Jacksonville high school volleyball regionals: Bishop Kenny, CCA, Union County advance

Back, once more, in the final four.

Bishop Kenny turned on the power and marched into the Florida High School Athletic Association volleyball final four for the 21st time, defeating South Walton 25-19, 25-15, 25-20 in Tuesday night's Region 1-4A championship inside the John A. Baldwin Athletic Center.

The Crusaders (19-9) made it 2-for-2 against South Walton, after also sweeping the Seahawks in the 2021 regional final. This year, after graduating eight seniors, they achieved the feat with nearly an all-new roster.

"Building a team from scratch takes a lot of time and energy," said 20th-year Crusaders coach Suzanne Winkler. "We had two brand new setters. I think they're starting to get it, they're starting to click, but we still have so much more that we can grow."

Sophomore Olivia Ryno led with 11 kills for Bishop Kenny, followed by 10 from Georgia-committed Ally Cavanaugh and nine from junior Claudia Stockard as the Crusaders blasted away early and often for quick leads in the first and second sets.

The visiting Seahawks (17-11) put up the stiffest resistance in the third, pushing in front at 17-16 on a Camryn Halstead kill down the line. But Bishop Kenny responded with a 5-0 run, and Ryno finally put away the match with the Crusaders' last three points.

Senior Sarah Seabrooke recorded 19 digs and Cat Haen made 18 assists for Bishop Kenny.

"In our losses in October, we were always coming from behind," Winkler said. "So we focused a lot on starting ahead and being the aggressor instead of being the defender. I think that's helped us."

Bishop Kenny will hit the road Friday for a state semifinal against No. 1 overall seed Alachua Santa Fe. The FHSAA reseeded all four semifinalists based on its power rankings, which list Santa Fe first and Bishop Kenny fourth of the remaining Class 4A schools.

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REGION 1-3A

Trinity Christian's best-ever season came to an end in Ocala.

The Conquerors exited the playoffs in a 25-16, 25-18, 25-23 sweep against top-seeded Ocala Trinity Catholic (20-3) in the Region 1-3A final.

Trinity ends the year at 25-4, with the highest winning percentage in school history

REGION 1-2A

Christ's Church ousted top-seeded Gainesville Oak Hall in a 25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 18-25, 15-11 thriller, advancing to the Class 2A final four.

CCA (19-5), which won the state championship in 2017, will play for a berth in the final on Friday at No. 1 overall seed Seacrest Country Day.

Oak Hall, which had defeated Christ's Church during an August tournament, concludes at 24-5.

REGION 3-1A

The Fightin' Tigers of Union County are headed back to the final four.

Union County came home victorious from their regional final trip to Aucilla Christian, winning 25-18, 25-17, 25-22. Kiley Donaldson led the host Warriors (21-4) with seven kills.

The victory sets up Union County (20-7) for a Friday state semifinal on the road against Baker in the Panhandle.

REGION 1-5A

Ocala Vanguard swept Ridgeview 25-14, 25-18, 25-19 Wednesday night to capture a regional title and advance to the Class 5A state volleyball semifinals.

The Knights’ senior-heavy group had the experience to outlast surges in the second and third sets to make their fifth consecutive run to the Final Four, as the Panthers (18-12) ended in the regional final for the second straight year.

Emma Ehmann was a driving force for Vanguard with a match-high 23 kills, as the Knights adjusted to Ridgeview's size and stuck to what’s made them a force this season.

“They had awesome middles. Those are probably the best middles we’ve seen the entire tournament,” Vanguard setter Sophie Reed said about Ridgeview's middle hitters.

Vanguard's Lillian Hart finished the night with an unofficial game-high three blocks to go along with four kills and Reed celebrated the 2,000 career assists mark.

Vanguard (16-11) will travel to No. 1 seed Jensen Beach (27-3) on Saturday. The last time these teams met was 2013; Vanguard swept that matchup.

Allen Pettigrew/Ocala Star-Banner

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX, and sign up for the First Coast Varsity newsletter at https://profile.jacksonville.com/newsletters/first-coast-varsity/.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school volleyball: 2022 Northeast Florida Tuesday regional finals