We are only a month into the fall sports seasons, and we’ve already seen some lengthy winning streaks snapped.
The Saint Francis Catholic Academy volleyball team is off to a great start in 2025 under first-year head coach Breona Fung.
The Wolves (5-1), who were guests on “The Prep Zone” sports show last Wednesday, had their five-game winning streak to start the season snapped at home against Newberry in five sets last Tuesday.
But on Sept. 2, they ended a 13-match losing streak with a 3-2 win at home against rival Oak Hall.
“That was a really big milestone,” said junior defensive specialist Isabella Morales, who has been playing for the Wolves since her freshman year. “It meant a lot to us. We were all very emotional after the game. We’ve been working for this for so long and we finally achieved it.”
It was the Wolves’ first win against their rival since a sweep of the Eagles on Sept. 6, 2016.
“Oh, my goodness, if you could see the pictures from after the game, we were definitely very excited, especially after beating Oak Hall in baseball last year,” said senior middle blocker Hailey Schoster, who had six kills and a block against OHS. “Just to keep riding on that win.”
Last year, the Saint Francis Catholic Academy baseball team won the FHSAA Rural District 7 championship with a 3-2 win at Oak Hall. It was the Wolves’ first district title in program history
Saint Francis Catholic Academy volleyball will go for the sweep at Oak Hall in the regular season finale on Oct. 19.
The Buchholz volleyball team’s bid to end Santa Fe’s (Alachua) winning streak against the Bobcats fell short on Aug. 26 in four sets.
However, two weeks later, the Bobcats ended a nine-game losing streak to rival GHS.
“It’s awesome,” said Buchholz coach Andre Medina. “When I first got the coaching job here, everyone told me that GHS and Buchholz are the two rivals, football or whatever sport it is, so yeah, it’s awesome to definitely break that streak. But it’s definitely going to be tough to go to their place (Oct. 2) and do the same thing again.”
This past Friday, the Chiefland football team extended its winning streak against Lafayette (Mayo) to six in a row with a 41-14 win at the previously unbeaten Hornets, while the Dixie County (Cross City) football team was on the other side of a broken streak.
Belleview won its first game in three years, ending a 20-game losing streak with a 68-13 win against the Bears this past Friday night.
It was the Rattlers’ first victory since a 42-6 win at Trenton on Nov. 4, 2022. It was also the most points in a game since Belleview’s 69-6 win at Lake Weir (Ocala) in 2021.
Eastside will look to end a four-game slide against Bradford in Starke this Friday, while Columbia (Lake City) will attempt to end a five-game losing streak to Trinity Christian (Jacksonville).
Trenton, which improved to 4-0 last Friday with a 28-8 win at Jefferson County (Monticello), is off this week before heading to Chiefland on Sept. 26. The Indians have won seven in a row against the Tigers.
On Sept. 5, the Buchholz football team extended its winning streak to 12 against rival GHS with a 29-19 victory at Citizens Field.
On Oct. 3, the Gainesville football team will look to end its skid against rival Buchholz. Last year, the Bobcats routed the Hurricanes for their sixth straight win in the series.
In the past year, there have been two very long streaks involving area teams, one that has ended and a current one that started before COVID-19.
One was in softball and one in football.
In last year’s regular season opener at Saint Francis Catholic Academy, the Eastside softball team played the Wolves to a 10-10 tie. The game was called due to no lights.
It was neither a win nor a loss, but the tie ended a 54-game losing streak dating back to a 24-3 win at Saint Francis Catholic on Feb. 19, 2019. The Lady Rams ended the winless streak with a 28-2 win at home against Wildwood on March 11.
Meanwhile, the Hawthorne football team hasn’t lost at home in six years.
The Hornets are 2-0 this year at home with a 42-0 win against Discovery (Lake Alfred) on Aug. 22 and a 33-27 victory against Florida High (Tallahassee) on Sept. 5.
The win against the Seminoles earlier this month avenged one of their two losses last year. It was also their 38th straight win at home.
Hawthorne’s last loss at home was against Gadsden County (Havana), 17-10, in the 2019 regular season finale.
They survived a scare in overtime last year against Newberry, stopping a 2-point conversion by the Panthers to win their 27th straight game in a row overall and keeping their win streak at home intact.