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.
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 on Aug. 31. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]
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.
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