On Thursday night at Legacy Park Multipurpose Center in Alachua, eight teams got some preseason volleyball action in before the regular season starts next week with The Rock and Branford topping the two four-team brackets.
The inaugural Crafty Gemini Preseason Volleyball Classic gave the teams and coaches as well as fans a chance to see the 2024 versions for the first time.
Four teams made up the lower division and four teams played in the upper division, which were the larger area schools.
The Rock School took home the upper division crown, defeating Santa Fe 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-23) in its opening match before sweeping Forest (Ocala), 2-0, (25-22, 26-24) in the championship match.
For The Rock, coming off a 13-6 season in 2023, the team is going through some changes, but it was a good way to start the new season.
“It’s a new group,” The Rock coach Ruben Perez said. “We obviously have a lot of respect for both Forest and Santa Fe. I know both coaches and definitely knew we would see good competition. Coming in here expecting my girls to try different rotations and just being able to see how we do against really good competition. I think lets us know where we sit a little bit more. My girls played loose and had fun. Being able to do that was huge.”
The Rock opens its regular season next Thursday at Gainesville High.
Santa Fe, which won back-to-back state titles in 2021 and 2022, is coming off a 2023 season where it lost in the regional final.
The Raiders rebounded from the loss to The Rock by sweeping Buchholz, 2-0, for third place in the upper division.
Santa Fe opens its season on Monday against last year’s 1A state runner-up, Branford.
Speaking of Branford, the Bucs took home the lower division title. Branford had to work for a five-set win over Lafayette in its first match, and then swept Union County 2-0 (25-18, 25-21) in the championship round.
Union County had beaten Newberry 3-0 (25-10, 25-11, 25-20) in is opening game to advance to play Branford.
Lafayette swept Newberry 2-0 for lower division third place. Newberry was a 1A state semifinals team a year ago.
Newberry coach Hank Rone helped organize along with Brandon Wilson and 399 Sports. Rone says this event was well attended and was pretty successful for his first year.
“Coach B (Wilson) and I had talked about doing something with volleyball, and we have never done anything with volleyball,” Rone said. “Eight great teams came in and got the season started and worked out some bugs. And they got a trophy. It’s also for a great cause. 399 Sports does a lot with the youth of Alachua.”
