It has been 10 years since Saint Francis Catholic Academy volleyball won its only FHSAA state title in program history.
On Tuesday night, the Wolves hosted their first regional playoff game since that Class 3A state championship in 2016. They led early but No. 4 seed St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) eliminated the No. 5 seed Wolves in five sets, 23-25, 25-17, 25-15, 21-25, 15-12.
“I always tell them, you can lose a game going down fighting, but you will not lose a game going out there and competing,” said 2nd-year Saint Francis coach Breona Fung. “They put their best foot forward, and they went out there and fought, and I was really proud of them for not giving up. Fell short, but still working hard to reduce our errors in play and not just give them points.”
The opening game was tied early on four different occasions. But after the score reached 6-6, the visiting Spartans (12-7) started to pull away and led 19-15 on a service error by the Wolves.
But an attack error by SJCD helped key a 5-0 run including a back line diving save by sophomore Rilyn Prodesky, which she returned to the other side of the net in an open spot on the floor to tie it at 19-19.
She followed that up with an ace for a 20-19 lead and the Wolves (13-12) eventually won by two, 25-23, to take a 1-0 lead.
“I was definitely not expecting that, like for no one to be there, but it worked out,” Prodesky said about her diving play. “I feel like we did our best in everything that we did, and from like the start of the season, I feel like we’ve definitely improved a lot, and that we came together as a team and did our best.”
Prodesky, who was celebrating her 16th birthday, led Saint Francis with 17 kills. She also added two aces and finished with a double-double with 13 digs.
After dropping the next two sets, the Wolves did not give up.
In the fourth set, junior middle blocker Katelyn Elder (7 kills, 6 blocks) had consecutive blocks to help extend the lead to 13-8. The Wolves had a 5-0 run which ended with an ace by sophomore Renata Morales for a 15-8 lead.
Although the Spartans battled back to within two, 22-20, on a kill by senior Madeline Finke, the Wolves three of the next four for a 25-21 win to set up a decisive fifth set.
“So, our first set we came out very strong, and we were very excited to be in regionals,” Elder said. “And then we kind of lost our energy in the second and third set a little bit, but that fourth set we really came back and we battled, so that was really good. I think we did the best that we could have, but we probably could have like done a little bit better with our energy because the levels fluctuated a little too much.”
Although this season has come to an end, the future is bright for the Wolves, who only lose one senior from the school’s first home playoff team since 2016.
“It feels amazing,” Fung said. “Again, these girls have worked so hard to come to where they are, and I think it’s just a testament to where we are at Saint Francis. We’re going to continue to grow. Most of this team, for the most part, besides my one senior, is coming back, so I think this team has a lot of potential, and it’s just the environment that we want to foster at Saint Francis that like we can do big things and we can work hard.”
Junior Hannah Ulmer had 11 kills along with five digs and a pair of aces and sophomore Alyssa Pappas had a team-best 22 digs for Saint Francis, which won the Class 1A-District 4 title last week.
“Again, very excited to see what the future holds with everybody coming back,” Fung said. “I think that this team can make a deep run again next year. It feels really great to come into this program and have a ton of great kids who come out and work not only for themselves but for each other and for me. And it feels really nice to bring home that district championship and make it to regionals.”
St. Johns Country Day advances to Saturday’s regional semifinals and will travel to top seed Christ’s Church Academy (Jacksonville), which eliminated No. 8 seed Countryside Christian 25-20, 19-25, 25-15, 25-14.
Area teams went 0-4 in the opening round of the state playoffs on Tuesday night.
In addition to Saint Francis and Countryside, No. 4 seed Oak Hall School lost at 5 Destin 25-16, 25-27, 25-21, 25-20 in a Class 2A-Region 1 Quarterfinal. The Eagles finished the season with an overall record of 22-4.
Newberry, which lost at Santa Fe (Alachua) in last week’s 3A-District 4 championship game, had its season come to an end at 22-5. The No. 6 seed Panthers were swept at No. 3 South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach) in a Class 3A-Region 1 Quarterfinal.
2026 FHSAA Volleyball Regional Tournaments
Area teams in bold
Tuesday, Oct. 20
Class 1A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
4 St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) d. 5 Saint Francis Catholic Academy 23-25, 25-17, 25-15, 21-25, 15-12 (Wolves finish the season (13-12)
1 Christ’s Church Academy (Jacksonville)d. 8 Countryside Christian 25-20, 19-25, 25-15, 25-14 (Minutemen finish the season 14-11)
Class 2A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
5 Destin d. 4 Oak Hall School 25-16, 25-27, 25-21, 25-20 (Eagles finish the season 22-4)
Class 3A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
3 South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach) d. 6 Newberry 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 (Panthers finish the season 22-5)
Wednesday, Oct. 21
Class 5A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
7 Gainesville at 2 Chiles (Tallahassee), 6 p.m.
Class 6A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
5 Buchholz at 4 Seminole (Sanford), 6 p.m.
Open Division Pool Play Round 1
8 Santa Fe (Alachua) at 4 Winter Park, 6 p.m.