- Santa Fe volleyball team swept Gainesville High School 25-19, 25-23, 25-15 on Tuesday at The Purple Palace.
- Taylor Sembower led Santa Fe with 14 kills and Karlee Noah had back-to-back aces in the second set.
- On Monday, Santa Fe will play Buchholz and GHS will host Ridgeview, with their second meeting scheduled for Oct. 5 in Alachua.
For the first time this season, the Santa Fe (Alachua) volleyball team swept its opponent.
The visiting Raiders defeated GHS 25-19, 25-23, 25-15 at The Purple Palace in the first of two meetings between the county rivals on Tuesday night.
However, Raiders’ head coach Eric Marshall was disappointed after the match.
“I don’t want to disrespect GHS in any way; they played incredible,” Marshall said. “I thought they got the ball to the three kids that they need to get the ball to win. I thought they outserved us, which to me was the difference in them scoring more points than we thought we should have given up, but I am so disappointed in the amount of energy we played with. I think we came in here entitled because of the teams we’ve played up until now.”
Last week, Santa Fe (4-1) lost in five sets to defending 3A champion Calvary Christian (Clearwater), defeated defending 5A state champion Chiles (Tallahassee) for the first time in Marshall’s career, and beat 5A regional semifinalist Middleburg in four sets.
“We played them (Calvary Christian) well, but we can’t sit on those wins,” Marshall said. “We have to come in here the underdog every night, and with the amount of talent that we have, that’s disappointing.”
GHS (1-2), which advanced to its final four since 2011 last season, opened the match with a far-side kill by senior Kenzie Carter-Mitchell for a quick 1-0 lead. However, the ‘Canes never led again in the opening set.
Santa Fe sophomore Taylor Sembower answered with a kill to tie it at 1-apiece and added a second straight kill for a 2-1 lead. It helped spark a 5-0 run and the host Hurricanes never got closer than two.
When they did, the Raiders turned a 7-5 lead into a 4-0 run for an 11-5 advantage.
“I think Santa Fe benefited from having strong opponents already,” said GHS coach Jerica Carter-Mitchell. “They’ve had nail-biters, five setters, and we’ve only had two matches other than this one, so they hit the ground running, and now we’re playing catch-up.”
Sembower, who also added an ace in the opening set, led the Raiders with 14 kills on the night. The Buchholz transfer also had 29 attempts and seven errors.
“This is the first time we’ve won in three, and I’m as frustrated as can be,” Marshall said.
The ‘Canes did fight back in the second set and took their first lead, 6-5, on an ace by senior Whitney Kinsell.
But freshman Lalyn Sikes quickly answered with a kill down the left side line to tie it 6-6. She finished with four kills, 12 digs, and one block.
The second set was tied 11 times, including the final time at 19-19 on a kill by Sikes.
Twice, junior Jacey Carter-Mitchell gave the Hurricanes the lead late at 18-17 and 19-18.
“J.C. is the best player in the county, like she is the best attacker there is,” Marshall said. “If they get the ball in the right spot to her, we might get lucky one out of 10. But she hits the ball straight down. Her arm swing is so fast. You know, if they figure out how to get that kid the ball every single time, they’re going to be unstoppable.”
A kill by senior Kenzie Carter-Mitchell gave GHS a 20-19 lead, and following a pair of Santa Fe attack errors, the lead increased to 22-19.
Despite momentum on their side, the Hurricanes were unable to secure the victory as Sembower had consecutive kills to tie it, 23-23, followed by back-to-back aces by senior Karlee Noah.
“She’s leading by, I think, more than 15 service points of anybody on my team right now,” Marshall said of Noah. “She is killing it from the service line, and it’s because she serves it so low and so hard. It’s really hard to pick up.”
Santa Fe scored six of the final seven points to rally for a 25-23 win in the second set.
“I think they would tell you they lost set two,” Marshall said. “We feel like we stole it. We didn’t deserve it. We stole it.”
Gainesville did its best to try and take a set, but a 7-0 run by Santa Fe in the third set, which included an ace by freshman Holdyn Moore, gave the Raiders a 13-9 lead and they never trailed again.
“Even though we are just rebuilding, losing two (seniors RS/Opp Rowan Kage and libero Addyson Hauptman), those were two huge areas, so just trying to get our big hitters to fill into those roles of just more consistency, and just being dependable overall,” Carter-Mitchell said. “We’re just at the beginning of the season, trying to figure out things.”
Sophomore middle blocker Ajha Graddy added 10 kills for Santa Fe, which will travel to Buchholz on Monday, while GHS will host Class 5A-District 3 opponent Ridgeview (Orange Park) on Monday.
Both matches are at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, the second meeting between the Raiders and the Hurricanes will be in Alachua on Monday, Oct. 5. This series is even at 2-2 over the last four games.
“It’s great that we play them early, and then we play them that last week of the regular season, so we can see how we grow throughout the year,” Carter-Mitchell said.