First Coast Varsity Weekly: Young Mandarin squad battles to Gateway volleyball title

One point from a Gateway Conference championship, Mandarin's Macy DuBois wasn't about to hesitate when the volleyball floated her way.

"You've just got to go for it," DuBois said. "Go big or go home."

The Mustangs completed the comeback and retained their Gateway Conference volleyball championship in their latest back-and-forth battle with Fletcher, winning 25-22, 17-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-13 Thursday in Neptune Beach.

Fletcher led 7-3 in the deciding final set before the Mustangs (16-5) unleashed a 7-0 run to retake the lead.

"This team, how they connect to each other and believe in each other is amazing," Mandarin coach Daniel Magnusson said. "It's scary to be down that much, but I was honestly not really nervous."

Even after transforming a 7-3 deficit into a 10-7 lead, Mandarin still had to fight to seal the win. The Senators (21-4) didn't go away, cutting the lead to 13-12 before Paola Aviles Morales delivered a kill to set up match point. Junior DuBois, who also powered Mandarin down the stretch in the 2022 final, came through with the clincher.

"Fletcher is just an amazing team, and being able to play them for Gateway just makes winning so much more worth it," she said.

Among Mandarin's key pieces in this Gateway triumph was the newest: Freshman outside hitter Kyla Hollis recorded team highs in kills (14) and aces (5), capping an excellent three-day Gateway tournament with 44 kills and 44 digs. Her 149 kills for the season and .225 hitting percentage rank among the team's leaders.

"She comes in and she's taking big swings and passing like a full-blown senior," Magnusson said.

Erin Dailey led Mandarin with 26 digs and Paige Wind provided 24 assists. For Fletcher, Katie Issendorf and Jordyn Leinwohl led the attack with 13 kills apiece, followed by Nadia Ewton with 12.

The win marks the first back-to-back Gateway titles for Mandarin volleyball, boosting Mustang momentum entering the District 1-7A tournament.

"The bench, the girls on the court, our coach all did amazing," said Aviles Morales, a senior committed to St. Johns River State College. "We had a lot of support from everybody."

Gateway cross country hits road Thursday

Is there a changing of the guard coming to Gateway Conference cross country?

All season long, Wolfson senior Andrew Marello has been hoping that his time is now.

"I came third, second, and this is my year to finish first," he said during the inaugural Fall Sports Media Day.

Duval County's top public school runners gather for Thursday's Gateway cross country meet at New World Sports Complex near Cecil Field.

A perennial contender on the 5K course, Marello enters as a strong candidate to earn Wolfson's first individual boys Gateway title since Connor Vaughan ran 16:39 in 2014. In 2021 and 2022, he finished behind Mandarin's Gavin Nelson, who now runs in college for Florida.

In the team chase, meanwhile, Mandarin remains the favorite in the boys race. They've nearly swept the Gateway boys cross country championships since 2005, with Sandalwood (2006) and Stanton (2018-19) the only exceptions.

Still, Marello is confident that Wolfson's boys can challenge for the top of the podium, which they last reached during a long stretch of dominance from 1990 to 2004.

"Going into Gateway, I like our chances as a team," Marello said. "We didn't lose any returners this year and everyone came back. We're all getting stronger and better every day."

Wolfson already returns the defending Gateway girls champion in Addison Sharp, who ran 20:15 last year as a sophomore. She could face a strong challenge from Mandarin's Alaysa Chipunov, individual champion last month at the Hare and Hounds Invitational in North Carolina.

Mandarin has won 16 of the county's last 20 girls team titles, interrupted only by Fletcher (2006, 2007, 2016 and 2017).

In addition to Thursday's Gateway Conference championship, Nassau County holds its championship meet Wednesday at Fernandina Beach.

Senators, Mustangs top Gateway golf

So far, it's been either Fletcher purple or Mandarin orange and green lifting the Gateway trophies for 2023-24.

Fletcher dominated the 18-hole boys tournament at Jacksonville Beach Golf Club, posting an even-par 284 to finish 29 strokes clear of runner-up Atlantic Coast while returning to the top of the county for the first time since 2019.

Sophomore Cole Slater was the medalist with a 67, while teammates Keanu Evans (72), Jackson Runquist (72), Mathis Toal (73) and Keller Gray (74) joined him on the All-Gateway team. Atlantic Coast's Mateo Elliott and Sandalwood's Jackson Sullivan, the 2022 medalist, also made the Gateway list.

Thunderstorms cut Thursday's Gateway girls tournament to nine holes, with Mandarin's team score of 29 over enough for a comfortable 16-shot win over second-place Atlantic Coast. The Gateway title was the first for Mustangs girls golf since 2013.

Atlantic Coast's Anastasia Dimov shot 1 over to earn medalist honors. Also within six shots were Mandarin runner-up Olivia Bass, First Coast's Jenna Wilson and Samiyah Arnold, Stanton's Moli Roelke and Alyssa Hardy, Fletcher's Mia Diaz and Riverside's Morgan Wilkerson.

With Gateway fall tournaments (boys and girls cross country, bowling and volleyball) still yet to finish, Fletcher owns three trophies and Mandarin two.

Three-peat for Mustang bowlers?

Mandarin goes for three in a row at the Gateway Conference bowling championship, scheduled for Wednesday at Batt Family Fun Center on the Westside.

The Mustangs and Sandalwood have combined to win the last six Gateway titles on the lanes.

Wednesday's event is the last major stop in the regular season before FHSAA bowling districts next week. District 1, which includes schools in Duval and Nassau counties, takes place 9 a.m. Oct. 25, also at Batt Bowl. District 2, with Columbia and Fort White, will be 10 a.m. Oct. 23 at Ocala West Lanes, and District 3, with Menendez, Palatka and St. Augustine, is set for 8 a.m. Oct. 23 at Ormond Lanes in Volusia County.

New World, familiar result for Ryan, Johnson

Saturday's New World Fall Spectacular began with the word new, but the final result was familiar: Nease at the head of the boys cross country pack.

Senior Matt Ryan led the way for the Panthers, running 15:17 to help the Panthers to a first-place 75 points ahead of Gainesville Buchholz (121) and Ponte Vedra (166) in a meet drawing dozens of top programs across Florida and Georgia.

Teammates Sai Jayaraman, Finn Thomas, Nate Corkran and Wyatt Pittman all finished inside 16:07 as Nease continued the championship tradition of recent Panthers like Rheinhardt Harrison and Anderson Ball.

The top time of the day, meanwhile, belonged to Tallahassee Leon's Patrick Koon. His 14:46 ranked among the speediest 5K times on record in Florida, only one second slower than Harrison's then-record time at the same site in 2021.

The girls race turned into the latest triumph for Creekside sophomore Alyson Johnson, who nearly matched her personal record to win in 17:57 with a 12-second margin ahead of Caroline Couch from Tallahassee Maclay.

Maclay took the girls team title with 99 points, just ahead of Ponte Vedra at 107 points. Lindy White (18:24) and Daisy Ross (18:34) both placed in the top six for the Sharks.

For Bishop Kenny, the weekend brought a trip to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for the Manhattan Invitational, where Tessa Massa's 15:50.1 over the 2 1/2-mile course placed 27th in the girls race and led the Crusaders to seventh in the girls team standings. The Bishop Kenny boys finished 16th in their race, led by Juan Pablo Castillo-Zima at 13:13.8.

The Bolles girls placed second in the Coach Wood Invitational at McIntosh Nature Preserve in Whitesburg, Ga., led by Sofie Stam's 12th-place 18:54. Chris Joost ran a season-best 15:35 to help the Bolles boys to fourth.

Highlighting this weekend's cross country schedule will be the Craig Speziale Invitational at Ponte Vedra as well as the Bradford Invitational in Starke.

Zarephath pair zips for giant numbers

Z stands for Zarephath. It also stands for Zoom.

The Jacksonville independent school is racking up huge numbers in the passing game, most recently in Friday's 34-17 win at Lake Weir.

Junior quarterback Jordan Durham completed 25 of 33 passes for 444 yards and four touchdowns, while freshman Joshua Jones grabbed 10 receptions for 207 yards and two scores.

The wildest stat? Those numbers aren't even season highs for the pair. Jones already gained 223 yards receiving against Joshua Christian and 276 against West Oaks -- a game in which Durham threw for 525.

For the season, Durham has already passed for 1,442 yards despite missing four games for the Eagles, and Jones' 1,044 yards receiving rank second in Florida behind the 1,088 of Nease junior Maddox Spencer.

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Nease, FPC top century mark

The point machine that is St. Johns County football churned out its second 100-point special of the 11-man season.

This time, it was Nease 58, Flagler Palm Coast 43, a wide-open extravaganza in which Panthers receiver Maddox Spencer got impressive numbers (119 yards, three touchdowns) and plenty of teammates joined the fun.

Sophomore Brayden Felder caught four passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Bryce Frick was nearly perfect (13 of 18, 278 yards, 5 TD) and junior running back K.J. Perry demolished his previous best with 202 yards on 20 carries. Perry only received his first recorded varsity carry on Sept. 29 against Sandalwood.

Other 100-point nights for Nease football over the years: Oct. 24, 2003 (56-54 loss to Orange Park), Aug. 30, 2019 (58-51 loss to Creekside), Oct. 18, 2019 (55-45 loss to St. Augustine) and Sept. 2, 2022 (62-41 loss to Creekside).

The first 100-point game this season in St. Johns County was Palm Beach Central's 55-48 win over Creekside on Aug. 25.

At the other extreme, Bradford has limited its foes to 39 points through seven games.

Parker, Paxon to install artificial turf

Parker and Paxon are officially next in line.

Duval County Public Schools announced that the Braves' Joe Hodge Stadium and the Golden Eagles' Eagle Stadium will be the next two athletic venues slated for artificial turf installation.

Riverside was the school district's first team to open a new artificial field in October 2022, followed by Englewood last month.

The project is funded by a property tax increase approved by county voters in 2022.

Around the area

Bishop Kenny guard Sydney Roundtree committed to Air Force women's basketball. … Creekside senior Leslie Dame committed to Siena women's swimming. … Fleming Island senior Maryn McDade committed to Florida State women's swimming. … Nease junior Charlotte Driesse committed to Kentucky women's swimming. … Ponte Vedra senior Annabelle MacAdams committed to South Dakota State women's swimming. … Bartram Trail infielder Lucie McDonald committed to Middle Tennessee State softball. … Middleburg infielder Kaelyn Hagan committed to Jacksonville University softball. … Oakleaf infielder Jorden Clarke committed to St. Johns River State College baseball. ... Sandalwood pitcher/outfielder Caleb Freeman committed to Thomas baseball. ... Episcopal goalkeeper Ava Galani committed to Memphis women's soccer. … Mandarin senior Mikayla Kimsey committed to University of the Cumberlands women's lacrosse. … Christ's Church celebrated two volleyball milestones Thursday, as Nadia Mortensen reached 1,500 career digs and Sydney Kambach passed 1,000. … Fleming Island junior libero Bailey Montgomery reached 500 digs. ... Nominations are open through Jan. 17 for the FHSAA's Roger Dearing Heart of the Arts and Spirit of Sport awards. The winner receives a $1,500 scholarship. ... High School 9:12 Basketball Media Day takes place at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Winston Family YMCA.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Mandarin High School volleyball defends Gateway Conference title