FHSAA Recap: State Championship Winners & Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this article I am going to highlight the programs and their athletes on the top finishes for the state of Florida. I want to give these programs and their athletes the chance to be recognized and commended for the great season they were able to have. With club season starting up, I think its a great time to take a quick look back at our state championship teams and some of the prospects that helped that program get to the top.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">1A Championship Final: #3 Baker def. #1 Branford (3-1)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Baker: The two players who made a big impact on their season is their MB Madolyn Mills (Class of 2025) and their Libero Chloe Ates (Class of 2024). Madolyn led the team in hitting percentage (.293) and in total blocks (51). Chloe led the team in digs per set (3), serving aces (93), and total digs (250) for the year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Branford: The player I want to highlight from this season is Kennedy Walker (Class of 2024). Kennedy led the team in kills per set (3.3) and digs per set (4). She helped the team in other categories as well including being third in assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">2A Championship Final: #2 Seacrest Country Day def. #1 Boca Raton Christian (3-2)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Seacrest Country Day: There are 3 prospects that I thought really stood out to me which would include [player_tooltip player_id='455016' first='Samantha' last='Soderlund'] (Class of 2025), [player_tooltip player_id='455059' first='Milena' last='Lopez'] (Class of 2025), and [player_tooltip player_id='455012' first='Alexa' last='Haley'] (Class of 2025). Samantha led the team in kills per set (4), aces per set (0.6), and total kills (372). Milena led the team in hitting percentage (.380), tied with Samantha with 0.6 aces per set, led the team in total aces (60), and led the team in assists (1035). Alexa led the team in digs per set (4.2) and total digs (407)while coming in second in assists (42). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Boca Raton Christian: The two players I want to highlight are [player_tooltip player_id='455001' first='Tekoa' last='Barnes'] (Class of 2025) and Dasia Johnson (Class of 2026). Tekoa led the team in kills per set (5.7), hitting percentage (0.352), and total kills with 500. She came in second in digs (240) and digs per set (2.8) while being third in both total aces (38) and aces per set (0.4). Dasia led the team in serving aces (45) and aces per set (0.5). She came in second when it came to kills per set (3.4), hitting percentage (0.224), and total kills (307). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">3A Championship Final: #1 Carrollwood Day School def. #2 Westminster Christian (3-1)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carrollwood Day School: The one player I want to highlight from CDS is Lydia Chinchar (Class of 2027). She led her team in kills per set (6.3), hitting percentage (.428), and total kills (573). She also got second on her team with total blocks (67), digs per set (2.9), and total digs (345). Finally, she got third on her team for total aces (37) and aces per set (0.4). This is an absolutely dominant season by a freshman for a state championship team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Westminster Christian: The two players I want to give a shoutout to on Westminster Christian is Gigi Artiles (Class of 2026) and [player_tooltip player_id='455044' first='Zoey' last='Matias'] (Class of 2025). Gigi led the team in kills per set (5.3), total kills (466), hitting percentage (.309) and total blocks (30). She also came in second for digs per set (2.4) and total digs (207). Zoey led her team in total digs (407), digs per set (4.6), total aces (54), and aces per set (0.6). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">4A Championship Final: #1 Gulliver Prep def. #3 Bishop Moore (3-1)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gulliver Prep: The one athlete I want to give a big shoutout to is [player_tooltip player_id='411367' first='Jackie' last='Taylor'] (Class of 2024). Jackie led her team in kills per set (4.9), hitting percentage (.400), total blocks (108), and total kills (418). She had such a dominant season for her team throughout the season and was able to end it on a big win against a very prolific program like Bishop Moore. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bishop Moore: The two athletes I want to highlight is [player_tooltip player_id='455035' first='Leah' last='McDonald'] (Class of 2025) and [player_tooltip player_id='490533' first='Emily' last='Schellenberg'] (Class of 2024). Leah led the team in total kills (273) and kills per set (3.1) while Emily led the team in digs per set (3.8). Both athletes made impacts on other aspects of the game as well. Leah finished tied for first in blocks (44) and second in hitting percentage (0.312). Emily finished third in kills per set (2.2), second in total digs (325), and third in total kills with 188. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">5A Championship Final: #1 Middleburg def. #3 Barron Collier (3-0)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Middleburg: The player that I want to highlight is [player_tooltip player_id='411391' first='Connor' last='Rahn'] (Class of 2024). Connor led the team in kills per set (4.6), hitting percentage (0.333), total aces (61), aces per set (0.7), and total kills (425) She also came in second with digs per set (3.3) and total digs (304). What an amazing senior season for Connor and her team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Barron Collier: The two players I am going to highlight are [player_tooltip player_id='411394' first='Aisha' last='Keric'] (Class of 2024) and [player_tooltip player_id='455011' first='Sofia' last='Locadia'] (Class of 2025). Aisha led the team in kills per set (4.4) and total kills (440). She also got second in digs per set (5.3), total aces (46), and total digs (525) while also being tied for second in aces per set (0.5). Lastly, she got third in total blocks with 46. Sofia led the team in hitting percentage (.400) and total blocks (107) while finishing third in total kills with 194. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">6A Championship Final: #1 St. Thomas Aquinas def. #2 Viera (3-1)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Thomas Aquinas: The two players I want to highlight are [player_tooltip player_id='411376' first='Sydney' last='VanCott'] (Class of 2024) and [player_tooltip player_id='204098' first='Mikayla' last='Porter'] (Class of 2025). Syndey led her team in kills per set (3.4), hitting percentage (0.343) and total kills (315). Mikayla led the team in total aces (74) and aces per set (0.8). She also got second in hitting percentage (0.324), digs per set (2.2), total digs (207), and total assists (445). Lastly she finished third on the team with total kills at 176. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Viera: The player I want to highlight would be Isabella Starck (Class of 2024). She led her team in kills per set (4.9), hitting percentage (0.338), and total kills (434). She also finished second on the team in total blocks (27), digs per set (4), total aces (52), aces per set (0.6), total digs (354) and total assists (414). She had one of the more dominant seasons that you'll see from a high school prospect not just in the state of Florida but in the country. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">7A Championship Final: #1 Plant def. #2 Winter Park (3-0)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Plant: There are three players I want to highlight for Plant HS which would include [player_tooltip player_id='397443' first='Maggie' last='Dostic'] (Class of 2025), [player_tooltip player_id='455032' first='Lara' last='Matta'] (Class of 2025) and [player_tooltip player_id='455077' first='Kaylee' last='Peper'] (Class of 2025). Maggie led the team in kills per set (4.6), aces per set (0.4), and total kills (366). Maggie also finished second in hitting percentage (.290) and total aces (29) as well as third in total blocks with 30. Lara led the team in total aces (34) and tied for first in aces per set (0.4). She also came in second on the team for kills per set (2.8) and total kills (220) while finishing third on the team for digs per set (2.7) and hitting percentage (0.192). Kaylee led the team in hitting percentage (0.397) and total blocks (83). She also finished third in kills per set (2.5) and total kills (197).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Winter Park: The one player I want to shoutout from Winter Park would be [player_tooltip player_id='411374' first='Fallon' last='Stewart'] (Class of 2024). She led her team in kills per set (5.8), total aces (66), aces per set (0.7), and total kills with 559. She also finished in the top three amongst her team in hitting percentage (0.316), digs per set (2.7), total digs (262) and total assists (27). She had a very dominant school season that should be a great stepping stone to producing and exceling at the club level. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Congrats to all of the programs and athletes that had a very successful school season. The ability for these athletes to produce not only on their club teams but also for their school teams gives college coaches a huge confidence boost in the type of player you can be and the impact that you can make on a program. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->