Three Gainesville volleyball players who anchored the team in its district-title-winning season signed college letters of intent Wednesday afternoon.

Seniors Brooklyn Tealer, Charlotte Gravlee and Meme Davis will play Division I volleyball next year after the three led the Hurricanes to a 20-8 season, the program’s first district championship since 2011 and a home win in the Region 1-6A quarterfinals before falling at Chiles (Tallahassee) in the semifinal round.

GHS coach Chancie Vice opened the ceremony going over the accomplishments of the three Hurricane athletes.

“These three not only accomplished record breaking individual goals, but together they led back-to-back 20-win seasons,” she said. “They left their name by winning district, something GHS hasn’t done in 12 years, but more than that they instilled a winning culture back into GHS volleyball.”

Vice reflected on each player and how they entered the program.

“From baby Charlotte being the most eager yet nervous freshman being pulled up on varsity to be starting in the biggest post-game (match) and helping us beat New Smyrna Beach to having no clue who Brooklyn was at freshman orientation and teasing coach Knight and her mom that basketball better not try stealing her and to Meme telling me I wasn’t going to work out as her coach her first day of summer camp her freshman year because I called her by her real first name,” she said.  

Tealer, who struggled with injuries during her GHS career, will play with the University of Southern California Trojans next year. The Hurricanes star led the team with 281 kills, was second with 48 blocks and added 133 digs and 32 serving aces.

“It’s definitely had some ups and downs,” Tealer said of her time as a Hurricane. “This is my first full season getting to play without an injury, so I was very excited about that. But overall, I feel like I’ve had a great four years and accomplished a lot in that time.”

On choosing USC, Tealer, an outside hitter, said she was looking at both academics as well as athletics.

“A big priority for me is academics, and they are a notoriously good academic school, so that played a big part in it,” she said. “Also their coaching staff seemed like they really wanted me there. They thought I’d make a big impact on their program. And I like the trajectory they’re on right now.”

USC is currently No. 25 in the NCAA volleyball rankings with a 16-8 record. The Trojans are 10-4 and tied for third place in the Pac-12 Conference.

Davis, an outside hitter, led GHS with 333 digs and 44 aces and was second with 249 kills this season.

“I had a fantastic career at GHS, I had a bunch of great moments,” Davis said. “I’m super excited that my team was able to create history and win the district championship because that’s always been our goal since ninth grade and we were able to accomplish that my senior year, so I’m glad it ended with a good thing. Even though we didn’t win regionals, we still won district.”

In her college decision, Davis said the Mercer coaching staff was the main factor.

“It was coach (Chad) Sutton and coach Val (Nichol) and I fell in love with them when I went to a camp and their coaching style and I visited the school and it was really nice,” she said. “The coaches were really excited about me and I was excited as well, so it made me go more towards Mercer.”

The Bears are currently 14-11 overall and in second place at 10-4 in the Southern Conference.

As a middle blocker, Gravlee led GHS in blocks with 56, was third in kills with 148 and had 20 aces.

“Ending the season with a district title, something (GHS) hasn’t done in so long, was really amazing, especially with doing it with some of my best friends along the way,” she said. “I had on a little index card with district champs written on it in my locker that I would look at that every day before practice. That was my goal.”

For Gravlee, Columbia had the whole package, which is why she chose the Ivy League school.

“The academics are amazing, obviously an Ivy League university, and New York City, there’s no better place to be. There’s so many opportunities, so many places to go after college and just being able to play volleyball on top of that,” she said.

The Lions are currently 3-18 overall and 1-11 in conference play.