Northeast Florida first-round volleyball: Bolles' aces top Pensacola; BK, Trinity advance

For Bolles' volleyball servers, Tuesday night's playoff opener was all about practice making perfect.

"We've been working really hard in practice on serving short and being able to spot-serve," Bolles head coach Mikayla Parker said. "It really came in handy tonight."

Placing serves short, long and everywhere in between, Bolles tallied 15 aces to defeat visiting Pensacola 25-9, 25-21, 25-19 in Tuesday night's Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-4A volleyball quarterfinal inside the Davis Gym.

Bolles (21-6) unleashed a barrage of aces from Anika Pillai, Grace Albaugh and Gracie Arnett — including an 11-0 run midway through the opening set — to pull clear of a Tigers (17-10) team that refused to go away.

The Bulldogs finished the night on a 4-0 run capped with an Arnett ace. Albaugh led the attack with nine kills, while Penelope Kavalieros made 10 digs.

Bolles advances to a home regional semifinal Tuesday against South Walton (16-10), which swept 25-11, 25-13, 25-13 past Keystone Heights. Keystone's year ends at 17-8.

Top seed Bishop Kenny (17-9) also advanced comfortably, winning a 25-13, 25-14, 25-11 sweep over Baker County behind 17 kills from Ally Cavanaugh and 19 digs from Emma Milton. The visiting Wildcats finish at 11-11.

The Crusaders will take on Fernandina Beach (20-5), a four-set winner over Beachside. The Barracudas close their inaugural campaign at 15-6.

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REGION 1-3A

Trinity Christian had no trouble in its opening round, a 25-12, 25-11, 25-20 sweep of three-time state champion Tallahassee Maclay (14-11). The Marauders kept the final set close, but Ariel Ross tipped the balance with back-to-back points for Trinity (24-3), which tied its previous record win total from 2016.

Providence saw its season come to a close with a 25-16, 25-20, 25-19 loss at Winter Park Trinity Prep (17-10). The Stallions close at 11-12.

REGION 1-2A

Sophomore Gracie Achtemeier belted a career-high 10 kills, Sydney Kambach got a double-double with 26 assists and 17 digs and Christ's Church won its second sweep of the year against University Christian (15-7), defeating UC 25-22, 25-15, 25-10. The Eagles (17-5), state champions five years ago, also defeated University Christian on Sept. 24.

The Eagles advance to a regional semifinal against St. Johns Country Day, which got 18 kills from Ashlyn Anderson for a 25-16, 25-22, 25-17 win against Gainesville Countryside Christian (10-12). Kate Jacobs recorded 24 digs and Bella Gomez supplied 31 assists for St. Johns (19-5).

Harvest Community also defeated Beaches Chapel for the second time in a week, a 25-7, 25-10, 25-23 sweep in a rematch of the district final. Beaches Chapel, playing its first regional playoff since 1985, ends at 16-8.

Abby Maynor had 10 kills, 12 digs and five aces for Harvest, which will play Friday at No. 1 seed Gainesville Oak Hall.

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 Tuesday first-round playoff results, winners