Volleyball Playoff Roundup: Baker advances and Choctaw, Niceville, SoWal eliminated

From four playoff qualifiers to one, Baker is the lone area volleyball team to advance to the Elite Eight.

Each on the road, South Walton ran into defending champion Bishop Kenny, Niceville couldn't get past the nation's second-ranked team in Ponte Vedra, and Choctaw fell to 5A's second-ranked Ridgeview.

How'd Baker (16-7) advance? With an easy 25-16, 25-9, 25-22 sweep of Bozeman to set up Saturday's 2 p.m. Elite Eight tilt against a familiar foe in Central at home.

Here's how Tuesday and Wednesday's playoff battles went down.

Choctaw swept by Ridgeview in 5A Sweet 16

Ridgeview coach Stephen Henry needed only one word to describe the key to the Panthers' first-ever second-round playoff victory.

"Blocking was our main thing," Henry said. "Without that, I don't think we would have been nearly as good. They were focused."

Using their height and their power down the middle from start to finish, Ridgeview topped Choctawhatchee 25-17, 25-10, 25-21 in Wednesday night's Region 1-5A semifinal to secure their first-ever trip to a regional final.

Haley Robinson, Zoe Whaley, London Francis and the high-leaping Panthers kept visiting Choctaw, the 2017 state champion, off balance through the evening in a block party — Robinson and Whaley blocked four shots apiece — at the Panther Den.

"I work on my timing a lot, so I see when they go up to hit the ball, I make sure my hands are right there on the ball," Robinson said.

That power was enough for the Panthers to overcome Choctaw (21-8) and limit the damage from junior outside hitter Iyonnie Sanford, who entered the night in the state top five with 461 kills. Sanford paced the visitors throughout, finishing with 13 kills and 11 digs for her 14th double-double of 2021.

This time, it was Ridgeview's Elaina Reynolds and Teeya Desgoutte getting those kill opportunities and taking advantage. Reynolds bashed 18 kills, tying her season high, and Desgoutte struck 10.

"They're very balanced," Choctaw coach Andy Faulkner said. "All their hitters are great hitters, they play great defense. They put a lot of pressure on you with hitters coming at you from all directions, hitting with high percentage and hitting the ball hard."

Henry said he suspected that the Panthers' height, length and leaps might disrupt Choctaw.

"I don't think the Panhandle's used to a blocking team like this," he said, citing Ridgeview's previous success against Arnold from Panama City Beach.

Ridgeview won the first set comfortably and blew open a 7-7 second into a 25-10 rout, commanding point after point off the serve.

But Choctaw pushed into the lead midway through the third after several kills from Sanford. But Ridgeview's blocking game took command, with two blocks from Whaley, before Reynolds blasted the match point.

"When we serve tough, we get them out of system," Henry said. "We got a lot of those free balls, our hitters got on fire in a nice little rhythm, our setter [Mariah Bostic-Jones] was connecting well. It was hard for them to stop."

Bostic-Jones supplied 37 assists and Kasey Casiple led Ridgeview with 25 digs. Gianna Derosa collected 13 assists for Choctaw.

The Panthers (17-7) next travel to Lynn Haven Mosley, which ended Middleburg's run in the regional semis with a 25-19, 25-19, 25-10 sweep.

SoWal can't capitalize on leads in 4A Sweet 16 defeat

Maybe falling behind five points in two different sets wasn't in Suzanne Winkler's game plan.

But the Bishop Kenny coach got one more demonstration that the Florida High School Athletic Association's reigning 4A volleyball champions can turn a match around in a hurry.

"I really think it was the ability of the girls to calm down and to do what they know how to do and refocus," Winkler said.

The Crusaders used late runs in the second and third, plus a 23-kill night from an unstoppable Allison Cavanaugh, to rally past a stubborn South Walton 25-12, 25-23, 25-22 in Tuesday night's regional semifinal at the John A. Baldwin Athletic Center.

The scores tell only part of the story. The Crusaders (20-9) had to claw back from holes of 22-17 in the second and 20-15 in the third, both times fueled by the serves of Tina Nika and Sarah Seabrooke.

"I think we took a little bit of a pause after that first game and came out a little on our heels, and that got us into a hole," Winkler said.

Early on, the Seahawks (21-7) had no response for the power of Cavanaugh, who blasted away from all angles to dominate the opening set. But outside hitters Madeline Smith and Darby Beddome helped South Walton claw back into the contest.

"I think a lot of teams would fold in that situation," said South Walton coach Meaghan Allen, whose team finishes the season 21-7 with back-to-back district titles. "I'm proud of my girls for sticking with it and battling."

But Bishop Kenny had plenty of fight of their own, particularly in the third set, which the Seahawks led by as many as seven. Two Leah Klingaman blocks cut the gap, then Seabrooke's aces accelerated the momentum that kept on going until Patty Elmore came through with the match-clinching kill.

Nika finished with 22 digs and Alexis Chin got 38 assists for Bishop Kenny.

The Crusaders will next travel to top-seeded Alachua Santa Fe. Senior Rylie Tam had 19 kills, and junior Jalyn Stout added 16, with a match-high 21 assists to lead Santa Fe into its fourth consecutive volleyball regional final with a dominant 25-12, 25-12, 25-11 victory over Yulee.

Clayton Freeman/The Times-Union

Niceville runs into juggernaut in 6A Sweet 16

The Eagles enjoyed three straight win-or-go-home upsets to get to this point, but David didn't have enough stones against this Goliath.

Catherine Meyer's crew lost 25-12, 25-12, 25-9 to Ponte Vedra, Florida's top-ranked team at 27-1.

Zeta Washington led the Sharks with nine kills and 11 aces and Jessica Shattles dished out 23 assists for Ponte Vedra, which advances to host Leon on Saturday in the Elite Eight.

Niceville finishes its season at 10-10 with a District 2-6A crown.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Volleyball Playoff Roundup: Baker advances and Choctaw, Niceville, SoWal eliminated