MIDDLEBURG - With two of the top five teams in Class 5A situation about eight miles apart, the chance of a Clay County volleyball title on top of a region 1-5A championship is about to happen.

"It's been an exciting year in anticipation of this game," said Ridgeview High volleyball coach Stephen Henry, referring to the region 1-5A final on Wed., Nov. at Middleburg. "They got us in the first game, we hope to bring a better game the second time. It's tough to beat a team twice."

Henry's reference to the first game was the district 4-5A championship game 10 days ago that saw Middleburg and their vaunted Bronco Nation fan base dismantle Ridgeview for a second consecutive year for that district title.

Fast forward to the last 10 days of anticipation and volleyball fans got a handful of athletic action that only highlights the prowess of volleyball in the area.

In region playoff action, Ridgeview surged after game two with two power-packed games to oust Beachside High 3-1, off a power game from Brianna Adams who has stepped up as a solid point-smasher for the Panthers, in their region semifinal while Middleburg used the 1-2 punch of sisters Connor and Camden Rahn to take out Lincoln High. Middleburg also had outstanding service play from Kendyl Wahl and Morgan Padgett to put the Lady Trojans on their heels during most of that contest despite a power game from their outside hitter Keelah Chambers who took on the Bronco front line defense with wicked strong strikes. Chambers was the second-best scorer on the Trojan team after regular season play.

"We wanted to neutralize their top hitter, but that girl on the outside had a great game for them," said Bronco coach Meredith Forkum. "We had to adjust for them but then they had to adjust for us because Camden has had the hot hand up front for us."

Middleburg, ranked number one in Class 5A at the end of regular season play, breezed through the district tournament with a bye and semifinal win. In contrast, Ridgeview, ranked number four at season's end, had one game before facing Middleburg in the district final, a quarterfinal 3-0 win over Menendez.

In region play, Middleburg and Ridgeview both took care of business in their opening games; the Broncos with a 3-0 win over Panama City Arnold led by 24 scores from the Rahn sisters and 14 from lefty Brooke Forkum.

"Most teams come in knowing about Connor up front and we hit them with Brooke in the first game to make them think about their defense," said Forkum. "Once the other team concentrates their defense on Brooke, then we unleash Connor on them. It's hard to defend both of them. Camden has become their third prong of that strategy at the right time."

For Ridgeview, the defense reacted slowly at first to Middleburg's front-line attack before going home with the loss, but senior hitter Haley Robinson thinks her team got caught up in the Bronco Nation fervor.

"We have to play our game and we'll be okay," said Robinson. "I think we kind of got surprised by how loud their gym was and that took us off our game."

Ridgeview's region opener, a 3-0 opener over Columbia, got followed in the semifinals by a brute force matchup with a much taller Beachside High team that unloaded on the Panthers in game three, 25-15, to set up a retaliatory response by Robinson and friends with a strong 25-14 fourth game for the win.

"We can't have a lull like that against Middleburg and we know that," said Henry. "When we are on, we are on. We just have to stay on."

Against Beachside, Robinson took control in the final game to finish with 21 scoring kills with Adams dominating the first two with her 13 shots.

On the set side, senior Maria Bostic-Jones was perfect with 29 assists with sophomore Payton Cannon moving the ball to score 21 times. Cannon also was lauded for her 500-plus assists milestone for her short career.

Come Wednesday, with at least one Clay County program making the Class 5A Final Four, history will be made just with the game featuring two county teams in the region final as Ridgeview lost in the region final last year to Ocala Vanguard, who beat Middleburg in the quarterfinal round.

Historically, Middleburg, under coach Carrie Prewitt, has reached the Final Four six times; 1988, 1989, 2003 (lost to Gainesville in final), 2004 (lost to Gainesville in final), 2013, 2014). Ridgeview has never advanced to the Final Four but has 10 region playoff appearances dating back to 2000 with a region final berth in 2021 and 2022 with Henry as coach.

In Class 2A regions, St. Johns Country Day School (15-8), with Hadley Dantzler hitting for 13 scores, defeated Countryside Christian in their opener, but lost 3-0 to Oak Hall in their region semifinal; 25-19, 25-19, 26-24.

"The girls played hard in both games," said St. Johns coach Jenna Williams. "We have just one senior so next year is something we are building on with this group."

Class 5A Region Finals

Region 1-5A

No. 1 Middleburg (24-5, No. 1 in Class 5A, region quarterfinals 2022) vs. No. 2 Ridgeview (20-7, No. 4 in Class 5A, region finalist 2022)

Region 1-5A

No. 1. Merrit Island (22-6, No. 5 in Class 5A, lost region final to Wesley Chapel 2022) vs. No. 2 Wesley Chapel (21-5, No. 11 in Class 5A, lost to Barron Collier in Final Four)

Region 3-5A

No. 1 Barron Collier (24-6, No. 3 in Class 5A, 5A runnerup 2022) vs. No. 3 Gulf Coast (20-8, No. 12 in Class 5A)

Region 4-5A

No. 1 Jensen Beach (23-5, No. 2 in Class 5A, 5A champs 2022) vs. No. 2 Okeechobee (17-8, No. 13 in Class 5A, lost to Jensen Beach in region semifinal 2022)

Class 5A Final Four tournament at Polk State College in Winter Haven on November 8 (games 1 p.m., 10 a.m.) and November 9 (Final at 1 p.m.)