- Santa Fe (Alachua) defeated Buchholz in a five-set volleyball match on Monday, winning 20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 15-7 at Bud Seymour Gymnasium.
- Taylor Sembower led Santa Fe with 17 kills at a 65.4% kill rate and added 15 digs, helping the Raiders secure their fifth straight win.
- Buchholz junior Demmi Strappy scored 20 kills, but Santa Fe overcame a 2-0 set deficit to win and will play Vanguard next on Tuesday.
Last September, Taylor Sembower helped the Buchholz volleyball team snap an 11-game losing streak to rival Santa Fe (Alachua).
On Monday night at Bud Seymour Gymnasium, she was on the other side of the net to help rally the visiting Raiders past Buchholz 20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 15-7.
“I think we saw a lot; I mean, we’ve got to fix a lot of things,” said first-year Buchholz coach Amanda Falck. “We had a lot of errors that happened, especially in that last set. That can’t happen in the future. All in all, I think it was a really good game. I mean, minimizing our errors, I think it would have been a bit closer.”
Sembower led the Raiders (5-1) with 17 kills, including a 65.4% kill percentage, as Santa Fe won its fifth straight game overall.
“I thought they outplayed us for four sets. I really do,” said Santa Fe coach Eric Marshall. “We got lucky to win those two, scored a couple points in really good spots to get ahead, but their serve was better, their serve/receive was better, their hitting was better, their blocking was better, their setting was better, their effort was better, and my kids know that I’m not saying anything we didn’t say in the huddle, but set five we showed up.”
Before it got to a decisive fifth set, Buchholz (4-3) was the aggressor early, taking an early 2-0 lead on a kill by junior outside hitter Aubrey Waters. The ‘Cats extended it to a 14-8 advantage following consecutive kills by Waters (15 kills, 7 digs).
Junior teammate Demmi Strappy (20 kills, 2 blocks) helped create separation with three kills down the stretch that gave Buchholz leads of 19-16, 23-18, and game point, 25-20.
“What I love about her, she’s very smart when she goes up there; she sees the blockers and everything, and she’ll really test the blockers for sure,” said Falck.
But down 1-0, Marshall regrouped his team.
“I definitely think he was getting us in the right mindset because I don’t think he thought we were playing to our potential,” said Santa Fe freshman Holdyn Moore, who had a double-double with 21 digs and 23 assists. “He was definitely trying to get us back in the game because we were really tense at first, and he was kind of just helping us calm down and just move on.”
Santa Fe, which defeated Buchholz in two sets in the Crafty Gemini Preseason Showdown to win the upper division championship, got one of the best plays of the night in the second set.
A diving dig by senior Karlee Noah (39 digs, 5 assists) landed just inside Buchholz’s back line for an 18-13 lead. Although Buchholz got within one several times, the Raiders held on.
A kill by sophomore Ajha Graddy and a Buchholz attack error were the final points in a 25-22 victory to even the match at 1-apiece.
Buchholz answered, using a 6-0 run to erase a 12-10 deficit and take a 16-12 lead in the third set. Junior Lily Vaillancourt, who had a double-double with 12 kills and 29 digs, gave the Bobcats a 13-12 lead with a kill, which led to a Santa Fe timeout.
The Raiders never led again, with Buchholz scoring the final point on a Santa Fe service error for a 25-21 win.
The Bobcats had the momentum, and a 2-0 lead in the fourth set, but consecutive kills by Sembower seized it right back.
Graddy (12 kills, 5 digs, 3 blocks) heated up and had a key kill to extend a 1-point lead to 22-20. Junior Emarie Carlisle (9 kills, 7 digs) had the final kill to win it, 25-22, to tie it at 2-2.
Senior Ella Schneider (14 kills, 6 digs, 6 blocks) had three kills early for a 4-2 lead and added consecutive aces for a 12-5 lead.
Freshman Lalyn Sikes (2 kills, 14 digs) had the final kill in a 15-7 game that secured the 3-2 win on the road.
“Set five, we frustrated their libero, who had made some believable plays up until then, so I feel bad for her that that’s how her night ended, getting pushed out of serve/receive when she had basically covered three-fourths of the court the entire night,” Marshall said. “But you know that’s just the way it goes, and you know, I don’t like losing that way, as far as getting outplayed that way, but you’ve got to give them credit; they outplayed us.”
Sembower added 15 digs for Santa Fe, which will travel to Vanguard (Ocala) on Tuesday night.
University of Georgia commit Aaliyah Ray added 12 kills and five digs and junior Izzy Carter had 35 digs for Buchholz, which will play at Santa Fe on Sept. 22, will travel to Plant (Tampa) on Wednesday.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include Buchholz’s stats.