TALLAHASSEE – Nine kills from Mallory Roney was not enough for the Middleburg High volleyball team that fell in three games, 3-0, to 8A-Tallahassee Leon on Fri., Sept. 1 in Tallahassee.

Roney and teammate Jillian Bemis led the Lady Broncos front line with 17 total kills; eight for Bemis, as the Leon Lions were able to take games with scores of 25-18, 25-16 and 25-19.

Middleburg coach Carrie Prewitt’s penchant for tough scheduling continues as her Lady Broncos, now 1-3 overall, but 1-0 in district 3-7A with a win over Englewood last week, head to 8A powerhouse Creekside on Tues., Sept. 5 for a non-district matchup.

Creekside recently lost a 4-0 match to Fleming Island in a district 4-8A showdown on Tues., Aug. 29. Fleming Island lost in three to Gainesville Buchholz on Tuesday in that very tough district 4-8A.

Back for Middleburg, Bemis and Roney both hit at a 30-plus percent success ratio at the net as the prime hitters for the Lady Broncos.

Against Englewood, Middleburg won in three games; 25-13, 25-17 and 25-19.

Roney and Bemis hit for four service aces apiece.

After Creekside, Middleburg travels to Ed White for a district contest before heading to 6A power Ponte Vedra High School (3-0).

Fleming Island, also on the road to Jacksonville’s Providence High School, fell twice; to Tallahassee Chiles 3-1 and to Providence 3-1 in a tri-match.

Against Chiles, Emily Charbonneau had a hot streak with 14 scoring shots for the Golden Eagles, but with no help as she was the lone hitter in double figures against the 7A strong Timberwolves.

Against Providence, a 3-1 match, Charbonneau again led the net play with 16 scoring shots, but with Lyara Rosario only with seven scoring hits. Fleming Island gets back to district play on Tues., Sept. 5 with district leader Bartram Trail (3-1) visiting Fleming Island High School for a key 4-8A contest and a September 7 much-anticipated showdown with an improved and hungry Oakleaf High School team that sits at 4-1 with a lone loss to district 4-8A foe Buchholz (5-0).

In 6A, Clay High opened with a 3-0 record with wins over Keystone Heights, Palatka and Matanzas, but have matches this week with Oakleaf (Sept. 5) and also unbeaten district 5-6A nemesis Ponte Vedra High (Sept. 7) . Ponte Vedra, also 3-0, has wins over Nease, Bishop Kenny and Menendez.

In district 4-5A, Keystone Heights opened with a loss to 6A-Clay, but has rattled off three wins in a row with two district wins; Fort White and Bradford County.

Sophomore Madison Heskett leads the Keystone Heights’ scoring attack with 34 scoring shots at the net with Hannah Jones behind her at 25. Heskett is impressive with nearly 40 percent success on her kill shots.