Varsity Volleyball Wins District Championship

It took wins over 2 perennial powerhouses who have knocked TCA out of the postseason in each of the past 2 season, but the Trinity Christian Academy Varsity Volleyball Conquerors are the 2021 3A, District 2 Champions.

On Thursday, Trinity won the championship final game over The Episcopal School of Jacksonville in 4 sets by scores of 25-12, 25-15, 16-25, and 25-19 to capture the title. Thursday’s win was not easy, but after defeating Providence in the semifinal, the Conquerors were more than confident that they could dethrone last year’s champion, also one of the toughest teams in North Florida.

Amaria King added 24 more kills to her totals, giving her 434 kills in 28 games for an average of 15.5 kills per game. King ranks #6 in Florida for total kills. The team combined for 42 kills overall, but King led the way as she has all season.

Mikayla Markham led Trinity with 3 service aces. Allyssa Crews had 2, and Ally Carter had 1. The Conquerors also combined for 12 blocks of Episcopal kill attempts with Hadley Dantzler leading at 4, Taelyn Graham and Layla Brooks at 3 each, and King and Ariel Ross each blocking 1.

Set 3 was the only set Episcopal won; otherwise, Trinity was never in danger of dropping a set.

Quarterfinal and Semifinal Wins

After an easy sweep over the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind on Monday, the Conquerors played their toughest opponent and biggest rival in the district semifinal. Trinity swept the Providence School of Jacksonville in 3, but those set wins did not come easily. The set scores were 25-16, 26-24, and 25-23. The total kills and aces were nearly identical.

King amassed 13 of Trinity’s 31 kills while Providence got 29 kills from 8 different players. Carter, King, and Marham kept the ball off the floor with 18, 13, and 10 digs, respectively, while 5 teammates added 19 more to keep Providence from scoring. Providence dug 45 shots off the hardwood from 9 different players. Providence had the advantage in service aces, 5-3.

The difference in the match came at the net. The trio of Taelyn Graham, Hadley Dantzler, and Layla Brooks combined for 13 of 16 blocks compared with a total of 5 blocks from the Stallions. The blocks resulted in points for the Conquerors that kept Providence from winning sets.

Regional Playoffs

The 3A, Region 1 quarterfinal will occur at Trinity when the Conquerors (19-9) will host Florida State University High School (19-8) at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 26. A win would advance the Conquerors to the Regional Semifinal next week on Tuesday, November 2.

The regional playoff bracket can be found on MaxPreps by clicking here.

Raymond Bureau | October, 2021