Mike Ridaught
The Santa Fe College volleyball team, which won the Mid Florida Conference this season, will participate in the NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA State Tournament in Jacksonville beginning on Thursday.
The fourth-seeded Saints (15-2) will face No. 5 seed Daytona State College (15-6) at Florida State College in Jacksonville at 1 p.m. Thursday.
It will be the third meeting this season between Santa Fe, ranked 15th in the NJCAA DI Volleyball Poll, and No. 18 Daytona State College. The Saints swept the Falcons, winning at home on Feb. 17 and in the regular season finale on the road on March 10.
Santa Fe, winners of seven in a row, is led by sophomore Madison Sheffield. She leads the team with 193 kills. Freshman Katelyn Crofts of The Rock School (Gainesville) is second on the team with 114 kills.
Sophomore Kariana Ayala of The Rock leads the team with 314 digs, while Maria Hernandez, also of The Rock, leads the team with 572 assists.
The Saints have qualified and competed in the FCSAA Region 8 Tournament all six seasons under head coach Nick Cheronis, who was an assistant coach for 18 seasons at the University of Florida.
The winner of the matchup between the Saints and Falcons will advance to play the winner of the game between No. 1 seed Miami Dade College and No. 8 seed Eastern Florida State College at 1 p.m. Friday. The losing teams from those two matches will play at 10 a.m. Friday.
The upcoming FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 tournament is an eight-team, double-elimination format. All teams are vying for a state championship and to keep their postseason hopes alive by claiming one of three available spots in the district tournament on April 2.
The FCSAA Digital Network will stream all the games.