JACKSONVILLE - In one of the loudest and jam-packed gymnasiums for a high school volleyball game, the matchup between Middleburg, ranked second to Jensen Beach in Class 5A and 27th in Florida at 10-4, and Trinity Christian ranked fourth in Class 2A and 11th in Florida at 18-2, turned into a raucous all-out brawl above the net featuring two of the toughest hitters in north Florida.

"They beat us earlier in the season at the Nike Invitational in Tampa, 2-1 (25-21, 25-27, 7-15), and we have made some slight adjustments with our strategy to take them on," said Broncos coach Meredith Forkum, who, in her first year, revved up the Bronco machine for a clash with Trinity's top hitter, junior Amaria King (a Marquette University commit), who has nearly 300 scoring kill shots for the season with less than a week left in the season before districts. "We have three pretty good hitters and blockers upfront; Connor Rahn, Brooke Forkum, both with nearly 150 kills each and

Camden Rahn with 76, but King is a monster up there. We will move people to try and block her, but she's tough."

With Trinity taking game one decisively, 25-16, the Lady Broncos answered with a rugged overtime 25-23 win in game two with Connor Rahn exploding with massive rocket shots over the net opposite King. Forkum had been the lead hitter for game one and Trinity shifted unsuccessfully with Rahn getting hot.

Games three and four were dominated by King who finished with 30 kills for the night as Trinity won game three 25-23 and game four 26-24. The loss snapped a six-game win streak for Middleburg with wins over Ponte Vedra, Nease and Fleming Island while Trinity Christian notched their 14th straight win.

Down on Blanding Blvd., Ridgeview, 10-6 now and ranked 54th in Florida and sixth in 5A, beat Fleming Island 3-0 after an upset loss to Ponte Vedra, Jupiter and Beachside in a three-game tournament slide. The Panthers will finish their regular season with Beachside, Trinity Christian and Ponte Vedra a third time.