Santa Fe High School volleyball continues to roll with straight-set win over Florida High

ALACHUA — Santa Fe volleyball's head coach Eric Marshall has new shoes this season — a pair of black, white and red Nike high tops. The shoes make him "hip".

"This is the kids' doing," Marshall laughed.

That's this year's Santa Fe volleyball team in a snapshot.

Despite coming off a season that saw them win the Class 4A state title — the program's first ever — Santa Fe isn't letting high expectations hinder them.

"They're loose, they're having a really good time. And I'm kinda allowing it to be that way," Marshall said. "If they know what they're doing. And they obviously know what they're doing."

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To say the Raiders' volleyball team knows what it's doing would be an understatement.

And that was put well on display as Santa Fe topped Florida High in straight sets (25-16, 25-13, 25-11) on Thursday night, sending the Seminoles back to Tallahassee with a 7-8 record.

Here are takeaways from the match.

Seminoles come out sharp

Florida High came out strong against Santa Fe. The Seminoles and Raiders played tug-o-war with the lead through much of the first set as Florida High came out the gate with efficient passing.

"I thought they passed really well in set one," Santa Fe head coach Eric Marshall said of the 'Noles. "I thought that was where they kinda fell apart was their setting because they outplayed us at the net in set one. They were better at the net than we were."

Knowing the Raiders boast the reigning Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Volleyball recipient in Jalyn Stout, Florida High effectively took away some of Stout's production early in the match.

Florida High junior Riley Deem came away with a handful of blocks against the Raiders, while also tallying five points in the loss.

"Jalyn was getting blocked more than she normally was," Marshall said. "So set one was a little rough... We hadn't played in a while, so I kinda expected it. But I thought Florida High played really well set one."

Athleticism, aces lift Santa Fe to win

Fortunately for Santa Fe, it returned a lot of talent from last year's roster, including Stout, senior libero Miya Thomas, junior middle blocker Joselynn Sanjurjo and senior setter Anisa Dorlouis.

But the Raiders also added some experienced athleticism to its squad in senior outside hitter Camille Johnson, who transferred in from The Rock School.

"She obviously can jump out of the gym," Marshall said of Johnson. "We're relying on  her quite a bit. Athleticism is where we're making our stake, I think."

Johnson finished with five kills in Thursday night's win, while Stout led the Raiders with 16 kills.

And while Santa Fe's athleticism is certainly undeniable, it was the Raiders' serving that stole the show against the Seminoles.

The Raiders tallied 17 aces in the win, with junior Olivia Beavers leading the way with five. Meanwhile, Thomas, Dorlouis and junior Gracie Hardacre each turned in three aces a piece.

"My coaching style is serve and serve receive. That's what wins or loses you games," Marshall said. "If you don't serve the ball in bounds and tough, you're not going to win."

Santa Fe has sights set on another ring

Thursday night's win over Florida High improved the Raiders to 13-1 and was their 12th sweep of the season.

Santa Fe's lone loss of the season came to Cornerstone Christian out of San Antonio back on Sept. 3.

"They're mad they lost one game," Marshall said. "Their goal was to go 32-0. That was the goal they set. Not Eric Marshall. They set that goal... For them, that re-motivated them."

As of MaxPreps' most recent rankings, Santa Fe ranks as the second-best team in the state, behind Miami's Westminster Christian (12-0). The Raiders top out the Class 4A rankings, with Orlando's Bishop Moore (11-4) sitting in second place.

"I've never had an issue with them thinking they were big shots," Marshall said. "They understand because they've played high-level volleyball for so long... they understand at any time, just like in set one, any team can come for you."

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: High school volleyball: Santa Fe tops Florida High, improves to 13-1