Girls Volleyball: District Tournaments Wrap-Up

Trinity Catholic’s Isabella Basile (26) and Emily Hirst (9) jump to block a spike from Buchholz’ Kate Johnson (2) during a volleyball match at Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. The Celtics won in three straight sets. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

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Posted October 24, 2021 | By James Blevins
james@ocalagazette.com

District championship week is over for local girls’ volleyball teams but the postseason is just beginning.

Read below to see which schools won district titles on their way towards regional berths and which schools bowed out early in each respective tournament.

Trinity Catholic Celtics

District: 3A-3

Tournament Host: Keystone Heights High School

No. 1 seed Trinity Catholic defeated No. 3 seed Father Lopez on Oct. 22 to claim the 3A-3 district title for the second year in a row.

The defending 2020 3A state champion Celtics won in three-straight sets, 25-6, 25-10, 25-9.

To get to the final, Trinity Catholic first beat No. 6 P.K. Yonge on Oct. 20, also in three-straight sets—25-3, 25-13, 25-13—in the semifinals, having skipped the quarterfinal with a bye.

Vanguard Knights, Lake Weir Hurricanes and Belleview Rattlers

District: 5A-5

Tournament Host: Vanguard High School

No. 1 seed Vanguard defeated No. 2 seed Lecanto on Oct. 21 to claim the 5A-5 district title in three-straight sets—25-17, 25-22, 25-10.

To get to the final, the Knights first beat No. 4 Citrus on Oct. 19—25-12, 25-8, 25-16—in the semifinals, having skipped the quarterfinals with a bye.

Citrus eliminated No. 5 Lake Weir in the quarterfinals—25-21, 25-18, 25-23—on Oct. 18.

No. 3 Belleview beat No. 6 Leesburg on Oct. 18 in three-straight sets (25-15, 25-14, 25-14) to advance to the semifinals. Lecanto eliminated the Rattlers 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-10, 25-22) on Oct. 19, advancing to the final but ultimately losing to the Knights.

Forest Wildcats

District: 6A-3

Tournament Host: Forest High School, Various Cities

No. 3 seed Forest beat No. 6 seed Buchholz on Oct. 19, advancing to the semifinals. The Wildcats won the quarterfinal match 3-0 (25-10, 25-20, 25-20).

But Forest would ultimately lose to No. 2 Chiles in the semifinals on Oct. 21, losing in three-straight sets—25-20, 25-22, 25-15.

No. 1 Leon would go on to win the 6A-3 district title over Chiles, 3-1, on Oct. 22.

St. John Lutheran Saints

District: 2A-9

Tournament Host: St. John Lutheran School

No. 1 seed St. John Lutheran defeated No. 2 seed Redeemer Christian 3-0 on Oct. 21 to win the 2A-9 district title—25-15, 25-10, 25-18.

The Saints started on Oct. 18 with a 3-0 win over No. 8 First Baptist Christian Academy in the quarterfinals, winning 25-2, 25-6, 25-7.

On Oct. 19, St. John Lutheran punched its ticket to the final with another 3-0 win (25-11, 25-8, 25-15) over No. 4 Meadowbrook Academy in the semifinals.

North Marion Colts and Dunnellon Tigers

District: 4A-4

Tournament Host: Santa Fe High School

No. 2 seed North Marion lost to No. 1 seed Santa Fe in the 4A-4 district final 3-0 (25-4, 25-10, 25-7) on Oct. 21.

To get to the final, the Colts first defeated No. 3 Crystal River in the semifinals 3-2 (25-21, 25-18, 17-25, 17-25, 15-8) on Oct. 19, having skipped the quarterfinals with a bye.

No. 6 Dunnellon lost in the quarterfinals on Oct. 18 to Crystal River in three-straight sets—25-9, 25-5, 25-15.

West Port Wolf Pack

District: 7A-1

Tournament Host: Oakleaf High School, Various Cities

No. 6 seed West Port was eliminated in the quarterfinals on Oct. 19 to No. 3 seed Creekside 3-1.

The Wolf Pack took the first highly-contested set 28-26 but dropped the next three sets 15-25, 13-25 and 4-25.

Creekside would go on to win the 7A-1 district title over No. 1 seed Bartram Trail, 3-0, on Oct. 21.