If you go by the rankings, one of the toughest volleyball districts in the state is in the Mainstreet coverage area.
Three of the top 10 teams in the state in the FHSAA Rural classification reside in District 6.
Branford, which has played in the last two state championship games, had its 25-game winning streak snapped in last year’s title game against Liberty County (Bristol).
The Bucs (13-3), who have won six in a row, are ranked No. 1 in the latest FHSAA rankings, followed by No. 4 Lafayette (Mayo), and No. 7 Union County (Lake Butler).
Class 7A-District 4 is close, with top-ranked Winter Park, the No. 2 overall team in Florida, and No. 3 Hagerty (Oviedo), which is ranked 18th overall, plus No. 15 Boone (Orlando), which is ranked 89th overall.
“We have had three or four teams ranked in the top 10 in Rural for the past four years,” said Union County coach Tifani Knox. “This means that the final four isn’t always the best four teams in the state. It’s difficult to understand why the FHSAA doesn’t separate out the teams that are consistently the best.”
The FHSAA doesn’t reseed the teams until the final four.
“If the FHSAA did like they do in football, after districts reseed, then you’ll have the best teams at the final four,” Williston girls basketball coach Willie Powers said this past January. “Your numbers (attendance) would be higher, there would be more participation from fans, but we don’t make those decisions…you have two of the top three in the same district and the same region, so you just have to fight to live for another day.”
In District 6, there may be as many as four or five who could get to the district championship game.
“Bar none, we are in the toughest district in the state of Florida – period,” said Dixie County (Cross City) coach James Bendel, whose team is currently seeded fourth in the district and ranked 16th in the state in the Rural classification despite battling injuries and off-court distractions. “How they have our district set up compared to other districts in our class needs to be looked at seriously. Last year, five of the top 12 ranked teams at the end of the season came from our district in Rural. The next Rural south of us, their highest-ranked team, I believe, was 18. So, these other districts are getting free walks into the (playoffs).”
Last night, Bell, which is currently seeded fifth in the district and ranked 19th in the state in the Rural classification, defeated Dixie County on the road in five sets to split the two-game series.
“It was an exciting game last night for sure,” said Bell coach Drue Barry. “It seems like every time we play Dixie, it goes down to the wire. They beat us in Bell in five sets earlier in the season and we got to return the favor at their place last night.”
In the first matchup, the Bulldogs were up 10-5 in the fifth set and had three bad serves in a row and the Bears took advantage and pulled out the win.
“Last night we were in almost the same spot up 10-6 in the fifth, but this time we finished the game,” Barry said. “As a coach, that’s what you want to see: learning from past mistakes and finding a way to finish. Jim does a great job at Dixie, and his girls are always ready to play.”
Barry said the ‘Dogs “played well as a team last night and that was exciting to see.”
“Senior Alayna Harvey had some great kills for us last night, leading the way with 14 kills, and junior Gracelynd Joiner-Solis also had a great game with 10 kills, 23 digs, and 5 aces,” he said. “Freshman Cheyenne Arban came up big on the net with three big blocks and lots of strong touches and that made them change some of their swings late in the game.”
Last week, Bell was swept for a second time by Branford and also lost 3-0 at home against Lafayette. They still have home and home against Union County remaining.
“I undoubtedly think it’s the strongest in the state,” Barry said. “It would be nice if the FHSAA would even the districts out a little because there will be a lot of good teams left out of the playoffs.”
Union County started the season 12-3, but the Tigers (12-7) lost in four sets to Branford and Lafayette last week, and Branford swept UCHS on Monday as part of a four-game losing streak.
“Our team is strong in every position but struggles with consistency,” Knox said. “When we play to our potential, we are tough to beat. Volleyball is such a mental game. It is important to be able to overcome adversity and deal with struggles. We work on that aspect of the game daily and have been getting better as the season progresses.”
Dixie County, which defeated Eastside on Tuesday night without two starters, is still grieving from the loss of 16-year-old Savannah Langford, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident earlier this month.
“We had a bit of a tough spell between injuries, the unfortunate passing of our player, which has been a big issue, but it’s a family,” Bendel said. “It has galvanized us. We’ve had to keep fighting through that, and we’ve had great outreach from all the teams in the area, coaches, people I haven’t heard from in years who have reached out and I’m so appreciative of all that.”
Union County will host the district semifinals (Oct. 14) and the district championship game (Oct. 16) in a couple of weeks.
“I am very excited to host districts this year,” Knox said. “We look forward to having the home court advantage and hope our student section will show up as they always do.”