All rise for the Judge.
On Tuesday night, Gainesville sophomore Charlotte Judge had eight aces and 21 service points in the opening set, setting the tone for a 25-1, 25-8, 25-10 sweep of Leesburg in the FHSAA Class 5A-District 5 Semifinals at The Purple Palace.
The victory gives the Hurricanes a chance to win their second straight district title, after winning their first championship in 12 years last year.
GHS (14-8) came out aggressive against the No. 5 seed Yellow Jackets (6-8) and dominated the opening set.
“We went in knowing who our competition was today and knowing what our end goal is and it’s not just to beat this team,” said first-year GHS coach Jerica Carter-Mitchell. “Our goal is states so if we have that mentality, they need to have that mentality no matter who we play.”
Judge, who added 11 assists, had consecutive aces twice during the run, including an ace to give the Hurricanes a 22-0 lead before an attack error gave Leesburg its only point of the opening set.
“She’s the one who I can depend on probably the most back there, a lot of the girls are accurate but wherever I tell her to serve she pretty much does,” Carter-Mitchell said. “Even when I was changing up to short serves, which we don’t really do much, she was accurate with those as well. She did great.”
Freshman Jacey Carter-Mitchell had five of her 10 kills in the first set.
The momentum carried over into the second set as GHS went on a 10-1 run after an attack error gave Leesburg an early 1-0 lead.
Sophomore Jordyn Barnard had nine service points and consecutive aces during the run.
“She did great, and we moved her around to right side that last set and she did great in that position as well, talking with the setter about getting some different sets because it’s not her typical spot” Carter-Mitchell said. “She did a great job behind the service line as well.”
Freshman Jorryn Dye had five kills in the third set, and senior Kourtney Hutchinson had 11 service points and a pair of aces as GHS turned a 10-8 lead into a 22-8 advantage.
They finished off the match with a kill by senior Nicole Ellis, one of eight kills on the night for the North Carolina A&T commit.
GHS will face No. 2 seed Lecanto at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Vanguard (Ocala) for the district title. The Leopards (14-10) swept No. 3 seed Vanguard 25-15, 25-19, 25-20 in the other semifinal.
“We’re very hungry to get a district championship,” Carter-Mitchell said. “They’re hungry for it, to earn it, and to just catapult us to hopefully stay in the playoffs for a while.”
Class 2A-District 1
P.K. Yonge 3, Maclay (Tallahassee) 2 – The No. 3 seed Lady Blue Wave rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat No. 2 seed Maclay (Tallahassee) 25-23, 22-25, 9-25, 25-18, 15-7 in the Class 2A-District 1 Semifinals.
It was just the fourth win of the season for the Lady Blue Wave (4-18), who will play top seed Oak Hall at 6 p.m. on Thursday for the district title. Oak Hall swept No. 4 Rocky Bayou Christian (Niceville) 25-13, 25-13, 25-11 in the other semifinal.
“Everyone loves a good underdog story,” said first-year P.K. Yonge coach Chancie Vice. “So proud of our girls.”
Class 3A-District 5
Palatka 3, Newberry 2 – In a battle of Panthers, No. 3 seed Palatka edged No. 2 seed Newberry 25-19, 25-27, 10-25, 28-26, 15-13 in a 5-set thriller at Keystone Heights High School.
The loss snapped a 4-game winning streak for Newberry, which dropped to 15-11 on the season. The Panthers, who missed the district championship game for the first time in 10 years, will await the final FHSAA standings this weekend to see if they can get in next week’s regional playoffs as an at-large.
“Tough loss tonight,” said Newberry head coach Hank Rone. “Our girls played their hearts out. When it counted, Palatka made a couple more plays than we did in set four and five. I give them credit at the end of both those sets, 29 (senior Kenadie Wilkinson) stepped up for them and she made a couple of great plays, including the final two shots with corner shots to beat us.”
District Semifinal results
Tuesday, Oct. 15
Area teams in bold
Rural-District 6 – at Dixie County (Cross City)
Tuesday, Oct. 15 (Semifinals)
3 Union County (Lake Butler) d. 2 Lafayette (Mayo) 22-25, 25-20, 29-27, 25-12
1 Branford d. 4 Dixie County (Cross City) 25-13, 25-11, 25-21
Thursday, Oct. 17 (Championship)
1 Branford vs. 3 Union County (Lake Butler), 7 p.m.
Rural-District 7 – at Higher seed
Tuesday, Oct. 15 (Semifinals)
4 Chiefland d. 1 Williston 10-25, 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 15-10
2 Trenton d. 3 Cedar Key 16-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-17, 15-9
Thursday, Oct. 17 (Championship)
4 Chiefland at 2 Trenton, 6:30 p.m.
Class 2A-District 1 – at Oak Hall School (Semifinals & Championship)
Tuesday, Oct. 15 (Semifinals)
3 P.K. Yonge d. 2 Maclay (Tallahassee) 25-23, 22-25, 9-25, 25-18, 15-7
1 Oak Hall d. 4 Rocky Bayou Christian (Niceville) 25-13, 25-13, 25-11
Thursday, Oct. 17 (Championship)
3 P.K. Yonge at 1 Oak Hall, 6 p.m.
Class 3A-District 4 – at Higher Seed
Tuesday, Oct. 15 (Semifinals)
1 Wolfson (Jacksonville) 3, 4 Bradford (Starke) 0
Class 3A-District 5 – at Keystone Heights
Tuesday, Oct. 15 (Semifinals)
3 Palatka d. 2 Newberry 25-19, 25-27, 10-25, 28-26, 15-13
Class 4A-District 2 – at Higher Seed
Tuesday, Oct. 15 (Semifinals)
1 Suwannee (Live Oak) d. 4 Godby (Tallahassee) 25-13, 25-11, 22-25, 21-25, 15-12
2 Wakulla (Crawfordville) d. 3 Rickards (Tallahassee) 25-21, 25-15, 25-14
Thursday, Oct. 17 (Championship)
2 Wakulla (Crawfordville) at 1 Suwannee (Live Oak), 6 p.m.
Class 4A-District 5 – at Santa Fe High School (Alachua)
Tuesday, Oct. 15 (Semifinals)
2 Crystal River d. 3 Eastside 25-23, 25-22, 25-19
1 Santa Fe (Alachua) d. 4 Lake Weir (Ocala) 25-10, 25-10, 25-5
Thursday, Oct. 17 (Championship)
2 Crystal River at 1 Santa Fe (Alachua), 6 p.m.
Class 5A-District 2 – at Higher Seed
Tuesday, Oct. 15 (Semifinals)
2 Leon (Tallahassee) d. 3 Columbia (Lake City), 3-0
Class 5A-District 5 – at Higher Seed
Tuesday, Oct. 15 (Semifinals) – at Higher Seed
1 Gainesville d. 5 Leesburg 25-1, 25-8, 25-10
2 Lecanto d. 3 Vanguard (Ocala) 25-15, 25-19, 25-20
Thursday, Oct. 17 (Championship) - at Vanguard (Ocala)
1 Gainesville vs. 2 Lecanto, 7 p.m.
Class 6A-District 2 – at Nease (Ponte Vedra)
Tuesday, Oct. 15 (Semifinals)
1 Fletcher (Neptune Beach) d. 4 Buchholz 21-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-20
Mike, if Union County is a local team, why don’t you ever talk about us? We just beat the second seed team and the second rank team in our division (Lafayette) and no coverage?