High school volleyball: FHSAA rolls out regional brackets after district tournaments

Fernandina Beach hasn't won a volleyball regional playoff since 2014. Beachside didn't even exist until three months ago.

They're set for an opening-round collision after the Florida High School Athletic Association announced brackets for the high school volleyball regional playoffs, which begin Tuesday and Wednesday statewide.

Fernandina Beach travels to Beachside Tuesday night in the Region 1-4A playoffs, a bracket that also includes Baker County, Bolles and No. 1 seed Bishop Kenny.

The FHSAA used its ranking formula, a variant of the MaxPreps rankings, to select four at-large teams per region per class from 2A through 7A. Those at-large teams join last week's district tournament champions, which qualify automatically for the playoffs.

That proved crucial for Creekside, which worked its way off the Region 1-7A bubble by winning the District 1-7A tournament against Bartram Trail. Creekside opens at Winter Park, while Bartram Trail, which made the field as an at-large team, goes to Oviedo Hagerty.

Left on the outside, though, were teams like Gateway Conference champion Mandarin, which was ranked 10th in Region 1-7A, and Columbia, ninth in Region 1-5A in spite of a 17-9 record.

Three-time state champion Ponte Vedra opens Region 1-6A at home against Tallahassee Chiles, while in Region 1-4A, Bishop Kenny hosts Baker County in an all-local matchup after the Crusaders' 26th consecutive district title.

Rematches from district tournaments are on deck for Harvest Community and Beaches Chapel in Class 2A, and for the pairs of Aucilla Christian and Hilliard as well as Union County and Branford in Class 1A.

REGION 1-7A

7 p.m. Oct. 26

(8) Lake Mary at (1) Lake Brantley

(5) DeLand at (4) Timber Creek

(6) Bartram Trail at (3) Oviedo Hagerty

(7) Creekside at (2) Winter Park

REGION 1-6A

7 p.m. Oct. 26

(8) Niceville at (1) New Smyrna Beach

(5) Tallahassee Chiles at (4) Ponte Vedra

(6) Gainesville at (3) Lynn Haven Mosley

(7) Navarre at (2) Gulf Breeze

REGION 1-5A

7 p.m. Oct. 26

(8) Stanton at (1) Choctawhatchee

(5) Ocala Vanguard at (4) Middleburg

(6) Ridgeview at (3) Pensacola Washington

(7) Daytona Beach Seabreeze at (2) Tallahassee Lincoln

REGION 1-4A

7 p.m. Oct. 25

(8) Baker County at (1) Bishop Kenny

(5) Fernandina Beach at (4) Beachside

(6) Keystone Heights at (3) South Walton

(7) Pensacola at (2) Bolles

REGION 1-3A

7 p.m. Oct. 25

(8) P.K. Yonge at (1) Ocala Trinity Catholic

(5) Florida High at (4) Pensacola Catholic

(6) Providence at (3) Winter Park Trinity Prep

(7) Tallahassee Maclay at (2) Trinity Christian

REGION 1-2A

7 p.m. Oct. 25

(8) Tallahassee St. John Paul II at (1) Gainesville Oak Hall

(5) Beaches Chapel at (4) Harvest Community

(6) Countryside Christian at (3) St. Johns Country Day

(7) University Christian at (2) Christ's Church

REGION 3-1A

7 p.m. Oct. 28

(4) Hilliard at (1) Aucilla Christian

(3) Branford at (2) Union County

DISTRICT TOURNAMENT RECAPS

A quarter-century running, and still going strong.

Bishop Kenny extended its district title streak to 26 years, defeating Bolles 25-20, 25-14, 25-14 to win the Florida High School Athletic Association District 4-4A volleyball championship inside the John A. Baldwin Athletic Center.

Senior Ally Cavanaugh blasted kills from every angle, freshman Sofia Muino delivered several vital points at the net and Cat Haen, Emma Milton and the Bishop Kenny (16-9) servers kept Bolles off balance all night with 15 total aces. Haen supplied 22 assists and senior libero Sarah Seabrooke made 21 digs.

Georgia-committed Cavanaugh set the tone with precise touches on two of her first scoring attempts of the opening set, and repeatedly found the corners with power on her way to 14 kills.

"They know what I do," she said. "I knew they would have a triple block on me, so I just had to put the ball where they weren't."

Grace Albaugh finished with a double-double (11 kills, 10 digs) for Bolles.

The rivals had split the regular season series, with Bolles (20-6) sweeping the Crusaders on Oct. 6, but Bishop Kenny adjusted in a dominant showing.

"I think the girls are starting to believe and starting to click... we kind of took a big dip [losing four consecutive matches from Oct. 6-8] but these girls are fighters, and they want to go down the path again," said Bishop Kenny head coach Suzanne Winkler, who captured her 20th district trophy.

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DISTRICT 1-7A

Creekside (15-7) made it a volleyball three-peat.

After entering the week on the postseason bubble, the Knights won their third consecutive district title and clinched a playoff berth, 26-24, 25-17, 23-25, 29-27, against visiting Bartram Trail (19-8).

DISTRICT 3-6A

Zeta Washington led the attack with 13 kills and three aces as Ponte Vedra powered to a 12th consecutive district championship, a 25-14, 25-13, 25-12 sweep against Fletcher (13-9).

Jessica Shattles supplied 33 assists, Chelsea Sutton made four blocks and Avery Webb recorded nine digs for the Sharks (14-6). Nadia Ewton's nine kills led for Gateway Conference runner-up Fletcher.

DISTRICT 3-5A

Host Stanton (17-6) punched its playoff ticket with a 25-10, 25-13, 25-11 victory against Englewood (7-10).

DISTRICT 4-5A

Connor Rahn's double-double (28 kills, 15 digs) for Middleburg ensured that longtime head coach Carrie Prewitt will be stepping away from the court as a district champion, winning the district title 25-22, 15-25, 25-22, 25-22 against Ridgeview.

Brooke Forkum added 22 kills and four blocks, while Kendyl Wahl supplied 31 assists for the Broncos (17-11). For top-seeded Ridgeview (16-11), Brianna Adams led with 16 kills, Haley Robinson had 13 kills and five blocks and Mariah Bostic-Jones had 41 assists.

DISTRICT 2-4A

Megan Barton hit 21 kills and Chloe Dorman combined 10 kills with 12 blocks as Baker County battled to a 14-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-11 victory against visiting Wakulla (13-11).

Emma Richardson had 22 assists for the Wildcats (11-10), who recovered from losing nine out of ten matches during one stretch.

DISTRICT 3-4A

An All-Nassau County contest went Fernandina Beach's way, with the Pirates sweeping 25-14, 25-23, 25-18 past Yulee (9-16). Ella Johns (14 kills, 13 digs) and Cadie Gillette (10 digs, 23 assists) had double-doubles for Fernandina Beach (19-5).

DISTRICT 2-3A

Amaria King blasted a season-high 37 kills and Trinity Christian (23-3) extended its best-ever season to date, fighting off a Providence comeback to win 26-24, 25-19, 23-25, 21-25, 15-8. Kelsey Flowers added 12 digs and Ariel Ross had 24 assists.

Isabela Lopez (18 kills) and Robinson Repass (16 kills) led the attack for Providence (11-11).

DISTRICT 3-3A

P.K. Yonge (14-10) halted the Cinderella run of Bradford in a sweep at Palatka. The Tornadoes end at 6-10.

DISTRICT 2-2A

Freshman Julia Howard scored 12 kills, Sydney Kambach supplied 27 assists and Noelle Kirkland earned 24 digs as Christ's Church (16-5) topped St. Johns Country Day 25-18, 25-19, 25-23 at host University Christian. The Spartans conclude districts at 18-5.

DISTRICT 3-2A

Abby Maynor's double-double (13 kills, 17 digs) helped Harvest Community extend its playoff streak, winning 25-11, 25-15, 25-9 against Beaches Chapel (16-7).

Peyton Cooper added 38 assists for Harvest (12-9), which begins its playoff run with a rematch Tuesday night.

DISTRICT 5-1A

Lena Kimmell led with 14 kills as Aucilla Christian (20-3) swept past Hilliard, 25-18, 25-17, 25-21. Madison Rudd finished with 38 digs on defense. The Red Flashes (9-5)  also received an at-large berth in the FHSAA playoffs.

DISTRICT 6-1A

Union County knocked off the top seed in District 6-1A, winning 20-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-20 against Branford (19-6). The Fightin' Tigers (18-7) will play Branford again to open next Friday's regionals.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school volleyball 2022: Northeast Florida district final champions