MIDDLEBURG - Middleburg High senior outside hitter Camden Rahn has been dominant for her second half of her final season with thunderous scoring strikes against unsuccessful defensive efforts and the Broncos offensive fastballer smashed 25 kills in a 3-0 win over Fleming Island for the district 3-5A championship Thursday night in the Carrie Prewiit Gym at Middleburg High.

"Big players play big when they are needed," said Bronco head coach Meredith Forkum, who has orchestrated a near perfect November peak for her team as post season starts this week with region playoffs starting on Wednesday, Oct. 23. "Camden has been locked in and the rest of the team is following her lead. We have seen our young players step up their games to support Camden up top."

For Rahn, the mental preparation for being the biggest target on the court as Fleming Island sent two blockers to the net any time a ball was sent her way.
"In my mind, I know my job and tonight that wasn't going to change," Rahn said. "I wanted to kind of say 'Not tonight' to their efforts to block me. I was fired up."

Fleming Island coach Amy Yoder, noting that Ponte Vedra beat Beachside the district 4-5A final to put a monkey wrench into the region lineup, said the talent in north Florida is where the 5A state champion may come from.

"We played a great game tonight, but we needed to be perfect to battle with two of the best hitters in the state on the other side," said Yoder, who thought that her region opener would be at Beachside. "The Ponte Vedra win may change the original region lineup but also highlights how good everyone is."

Around the county, both St. Johns Country Day School and Keystone Heights earned berths in their respective districts; both lost, but Keystone Heights advanced. St. Johns beat Peniel Baptist Academy 3-0 to earn the final berth, but lost 3-1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-19 and 25-23) in a very tightly played district 3-1A final game to Christ's Church Academy. The Spartans finish 9-17 under first year coach Amy Walker.

Christ's Church Academy advanced to the regions with a round one game against Beaches' Chapel. Harvest Community, coached by former St. Johns Country Day School volleyball standout, assistant coach and head coach Jenna Williams, is the top seed and will host No. 8 Wakulla Christian. Williams guided Harvest to a region final finish last year.

In district 5-3A, Keystone Heights (17-10, 37th in 3A) lost a 3-0 game to top seed Newberry, but advanced to the region 2-3A as the seventh seed to play at second seed Montverde Academy (17-5, seventh in 3A) on Tuesday, Oct. 21, with a win putting the Indians in the region semifinal on Friday, Oct. 25 against either McKeel Academy or Newberry (19-8, 32nd in 3A).

Also, in district 3-5A, in semifinals, Middleburg beat Clay and Fleming Island beat Ridgeview. In 2-6A, Oakleaf lost in the at-large game to Tocoi Creek with Buchholz beating Fletcher 3-0 in the final.

------------

Region playoff brackets

Region 1-5A
Wednesday, Oct. 22 7 p.m. (semis-Oct. 25, Finals Oct. 29)

No.3 Middleburg (16-10, 24th in FL, No. 4 5A) hosts No. 6 Mosley (14-12, No. 11 5A)
No. 2 Beachside (24-3. 13th in FL, No. 2 5A) hosts No. 7 Leon (13-12, No. 18 5A)

No. 4 Ponte Vedra (14-12, 33rd in FL No. 5 5A) hosts No. 5 Fleming Island (19-7, No. 9 5A)
No. 1 Chiles (26-1, 3rd in FL, No. 1 5A) hosts No. 8 Choctawhatchee (15-12, No. 13 5A)

-------------------------

Against Fleming Island, Rahn ripped the first four points of the match for Middleburg to set a tone of volatility above the net. Fleming Island retaliated with Lilly Eason and Kaylee Clark trading blows on top of two misses by Middleburg's Kate Lowery to get the Golden Eagles as close as 12-11.

"We knew it was going to be a game of mistakes making the difference as both teams had great hitters," Forkum said. "We got a little sloppy after our quick start but got right when they closed the score."

With Bronco server Allie Anschuetz pushing hard from the back line and Rahn delivering, Middleburg surged to 17-13, but the pesky Fleming Island players were not backing off with Kaylee Clark and Lauren Brosky pushing to 18-15 and 19-17 before Lowery answered back with two smashes and senior Kathryn White hit the game winner at 25-20.

"I got myself ready to play my best wherever I was on the court," said White, primarily a blocker for the Broncos. "They had two blockers with Camden and were covering Kate, so Allie was moving the ball to both me and Maysie (Bader)."
Game two saw Fleming Island coach Amy Yoder inspire her team to a 6-6 start to an 11-10 score with Clark burying three consecutive shots between the block attempts by White, Ally Lowery and Bader.

"I needed to pull the trigger and get our team back on track," Clark said. "We needed a spark to not let the match get away from us."

Kate Lowery again had the hot strikes as Middleburg fought back to a 13-13 scored with both teams punching hard over the net as the score stayed within two; 20-18, until Lowery stayed hot and freshman block Abby Grybb came up big with a game winning block above the net to end the game at 25-19.

"She's getting better and quicker with each game, and she came up big on that last shot by Fleming Island," Forkum said.

In a raucous gym for game three, Bader started to assert some offensive power as Middleburg jumped fast to a 7-3 lead before Clark again hit a booming shot to reverse the game's trajectory to an 8-8 score with Clark pounding for the 9-8 Fleming Island lead.

Rahn stepped up with bangers sandwiched around Lowery to push to a 15-13 score, but Brosky persisted in keeping the game close.

"We never really faced off with each other," said Brosky, of being in front of Rahn at the net during the contest. "We thought we could score better with me drawing blockers to me and Kaylee and Lillie taking the big shots."

Service aces by Eason and Maddie Culbreath had the Broncos reeling with the score locked at 18-18 and 22-22 as the aces were being effective for Fleming Island.

At 22-22, Brosky ripped a service to the Bronco floor for a glancing blow and a 23-22 lead that forced Forkum to call a time out to remind her team that they were the defending district champions.

"They just got a little loose," Forkum said. "I challenged them to remember who we were."

Rahn took the tying shot, 23-23, with senior Haley Fugate whipping a service ace, then Amelia Cobb putting the game at 25-25 before Fleming Island hit their service out of bounds to end the match.