ORANGE PARK - In one loud gym at Ridgeview High School, four Clay County volleyball teams battled tooth and nail in a unique district tournament setting that saw No. 2 Fleming Island earn a second shot at No. 1 Middleburg, also known as the Class 5A defending champions, in a Thursday final coat Ridgeview.
"I knew both games would be exciting and that the gym would be loud," said Fleming Island coach Amy Yoder, who saw her Golden Eagles turn a mid-season 3-2 win over Orange Park to a 3-0 thrashing in the first semifinal of the night. "I think we are a lot more confident in our play and to get to face Middleburg a second time is going to be a great game."
Yoder's reference to the first matchup of the two teams where Fleming Island took the first game of the match, but fell 3-1 in the Fleming Island gym made the two games on Tuesday even more riveting as the rematch between the two came to fruition with the Lady Broncos taking out an energized, but outmanned Ridgeview squad 3-0 behind power-hitting from Broncos' coach Meredith Forkum's formidable net players; Camden Rahn, Brooke Forkum, and Kate Lowery. Coach Forkum also got inspired play from youngster Maysie Bader, a sophomore, and junior Kathryn White. Both Bader and White have emerged as solid wingmen to the power-hitting of Rahn and Forkum, who had kill totals of 263 and 294, respectively.
"The youngsters on the team have stepped up to near the level of our veterans and will be needed in the clutch when he hit some five-game matches in the playoffs," said Forkum, now 20-4. "To have depth gives the first round of players a little breathing room when matches get tight and I don't think we lose much momentum with Maysie and Kathryn up front as well as sophomore Allie Anschuetz on the defensive back line with senior Morgan Padgett."
In the Middleburg vs. Ridgeview match, the Panthers were led by strong challenges from seniors Katie Cole and Maddie Roach on offense, but their strikes came in spurts that excited the Panther fan base in the stands. Ridgeview got some heroic defense from senior Anastasia Petrosky who fearlessly put her face in front of the Bronco salvos coming over the net for numerous crowd-pleasing blocks on the Bronco's mighty offense.
For Fleming Island, now 17-6, the front line offense of Edel Kibbe, Lauren Brosky, and Savannah Jackson was too much of a match for the Raiders front which concentrated on finding senior hitter Ryanne Robinson and her 357 kills for the season.
"We lose a whole bunch of seniors who played their hearts out all season," said Orange Park coach Scott Conklin. "We will rebuild off this season with the young players we have here."
Yoder forecasted that a different Fleming Island team would take the floor on Thursday at Ridgeview High to unseat the defending state champions.
"I think we have a different mindset than earlier in the year; more of an attack mode of play than a defensive thought process," said Yoder. "These girls have learned to play top players better and they won't back down."
In other district tournament action, Oakleaf, in district 2-6A, lost a 3-2 quarterfinal match to No. 3 Bartram Trail with teams trading game scores of 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 20-25, and 15-11 in the fifth game. Oakleaf finishes at 11-13 while Bartram Trail advances at 13-10 to play No. 2 Tocoi Creek. No. 1 Fletcher will play No. 4 Buchholz in the other semifinal with the semis and final played at Nease. Nease lost to Buchholz in the quarterfinals.
In district 5-3A, Keystone Heights lost a 3-0 match to Crescent City to finish at 8-15.
St. Johns Country Day School, 9-15, had a BYE in their first round with the No. 1 seed at District 3-1A then beat First Coast Christian 3-0 to advance to their final against Christ's Church Academy.