- The Santa Fe volleyball team is ranked No. 9 and awaiting confirmation if they will compete in the new FHSAA Open Division or Class 3A tournament.
- Santa Fe volleyball won the Class 3A-District 4 title with a 23-3 record and aims for a state title in 2026. Coach Eric Marshall emphasizes winning the serve and pass game to enhance their chances.
- The Open Division features the top eight Florida teams regardless of class, including No. 1 Orangewood Christian and No. 2 Calvary Christian, both nationally ranked teams.
The Santa Fe (Alachua) volleyball team has done everything it can to put itself in position to compete for a state title.
The only uncertainty, which they won’t know for sure until Sunday, is whether they will be competing in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s (FHSAA) new Open Division championship or the Class 3A state tournament.
The top eight teams in the state, regardless of classification, will play for an overall Florida state championship in the Open Division. Heading into Thursday night’s sweep of Newberry in the Class 3A-District 4 championship game, the Raiders were ranked No. 9.
“That’s just like the baby steps to how far we want to go,” said senior libero Karlee Noah, who won her fourth district title. “We’ve tried to win the last four years, but we haven’t quite got there. Hopefully it’s different this year.”
Noah arrived in 2023, one year after Santa Fe won its second straight state title with a 30-2 record in 2022. The Raiders swept Calvary Christian (Fort Lauderdale) in 2021 to finish 29-3 and win their first state title in program history.
Santa Fe, which will make its 16th straight playoff appearance in 2026, has been within a game of the final four in two of the last three years.
In 2023, Santa Fe lost at eventual state runner-up Bishop Moore (Orlando) in the 4A-Region 2 Final, followed by a loss at Merritt Island in the region semifinals in 2024.
The Raiders made it back to the region final in 2025, but they lost again to eventual state runner-up Merritt Island.
“Last year we were really good, but I feel like this year we have something special,” said sophomore middle blocker Ajha Graddy, who led the Raiders with nine kills on Thursday night.
It would take a special team to win the Open Division.
Currently, the No. 1 overall team is Class 2A Orangewood Christian (Maitland), which is ranked No. 4 in the MaxPreps national rankings. The No. 2 team, 3A Calvary Christian (Clearwater), is No. 18 in the country.
Class 6A Plant (Tampa), last year’s 7A state runner-up, is next at No. 3.
Santa Fe hosted Calvary Christian in the season opener on Aug. 17 and lost 3-2, dropping the fifth and decisive set, 15-12, but it proved they could compete against one of the top teams in the state.
The Raiders (23-3) hosted Plant on Sept. 17 and lost in four sets and they also lost 2-0 to No. 6 DeLand at the Wawa JJVA River City Classic on Sept. 12.
“We’ve lost to some really good teams, but for me, I think we’re as athletic as anybody,” said Santa Fe coach Eric Marshall, who is in his ninth season. “We might not be as big as anybody, but we’re as athletic as any team we’re going to play from front to back, not just front. You can’t win volleyball matches in the front row. If you can’t play defense and you can’t set the ball and you can’t dig balls, you are not going to win.”
Marshall said that anyone who understands the game knows that “serve and pass is the number one thing in the game.”
“If we can win the serve and pass game every night, we’re going to put ourselves in a good spot to win,” he said. “And we work on it a ton.”
The only team that lost in the top eight so far (Calvary Christian will host Clearwater Countryside at 5 p.m. today for the 3A-District 9 title) was No. 7 Archbishop McCarthy (Southwest Ranches).
The Mavericks lost 3-1 at home to St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) in the 5A-District 5 championship game. In last week’s rankings, Archbishop McCarthy (21-4) had a rating of 33.282 and a 22.70 strength of schedule.
Although they won the Class 6A-District 2 title, Beachside (St. Johns) was sitting at No. 8 with a 33.091 rating and a 20.80 strength of schedule, while Santa Fe had a rating of 33.014 and a 22.10 strength of schedule.
The Barracudas (24-3) defeated No. 118 Creekside (St. Johns) in the district title game, while Santa Fe’s win was against No. 102 Newberry.
It’s certainly possible that one of those teams drop out of the top eight and Santa Fe moves in.
“So, the only negative thought I have on moving up to eight is we lose home games,” Marshall said. “If I’m nine, and we keep winning, I host three home games. If I’m eight, which is better, I don’t host any. I go play the toughest teams in the state. But it’s prestigious, so I can’t turn my nose up. I can’t be mad about it. We’re going to play who’s in front of us.”
If they don’t make the top eight, the top two teams in Class 3A will, as No. 5 overall Gulliver Prep (Miami) should be a lock.
That would mean that the top two teams in Class 3A, Calvary Christian in Region 3 and Gulliver Prep in Region 4, wouldn’t be in the Class 3A state playoffs.
That would give Region 1’s Santa Fe the overall No. 1 seed in Class 3A, just ahead of Region 2’s Merritt Island, putting the Raiders in a strong position to return to the final four.
“I think we’d prefer to stay in the classification,” Noah said. “It’s still tougher competition, but at least we wouldn’t be in the top eight because that puts you with all the divisions.”
The selection show will air at 2 p.m. on Sunday on the FHSAA’s YouTube channel. Due to Hurricane Isaias and playing conditions in certain parts of the state, the girls volleyball bracket release show was moved back from Saturday.