Thrive at Five: Gulf Breeze volleyball wins fifth consecutive district title with sweep over Navarre

Bella Satterwhite and Riley Bloomberg have been on the Gulf Breeze volleyball team for three years.

And they’ve never lost a district championship.

The Dolphins secured their fifth consecutive District 1-6A title with a 3-0 sweep over rival Navarre on Thursday at Gulf Breeze High School. Gulf Breeze won by set scores of 25-16, 25-12 and 25-19 to earn its eighth straight sweep, and an automatic bid into the regional tournament next week.

Another district title is just “part of the culture” that head coach Jasmine King has instilled in her eight years at the helm of the program, assistant coach Steven Clay said. It’s almost like “a rite of passage,” he added.

“The older girls pass on the discipline and the approach to the next group of girls behind them,” Clay said. “Part of the success of the older girls now is because of their experience from when they were younger players in the program.

“Everybody is paying it forward.”

From 2022: Gulf Breeze captures fourth-straight district title, Catholic three-peats

For Satterwhite, who said it “was just an honor to even make (the team)” during her freshman year, she praised King for her dedication to the program. For junior Sydney Sutter, not only is it about not letting down the players who came before her, but the current group’s “drive, power and love for volleyball.”

After a big turnover from last year, losing eight seniors, King said the “players have put in so much work” to maintain the Dolphins “standard of excellence.”

“It’s just a validation of how hard these girls work. They’re talented girls, but that’s not even their best traits,” Clay said. “They’re great people, they’re hard workers, they support each other, they’re inspiring to coaches – and when you have that type of group, it brings the best out of everybody. … It’s a fun group to be a part of.”

Gulf Breeze came out in “confident” fashion in the first set. The Dolphins jumped out to an early 6-1 lead after an ace from Sarah Frazee and never looked back. While Navarre got a point back here and there, Gulf Breeze utilized some three- and four-point service runs to put the set out of reach.

The Raiders started to claw back at the end, but a kill from Addisyn Tolbert put the Dolphins up early.

Trading points early in the second frame, Navarre stayed within a few points before Tolbert went on a service run of her own. Thanks to a kill-block from Sutter and a kill from Lexi Pannunzio, the Dolphins stormed out to a 15-7 lead.

Satterwhite eventually had two kills in the last three points to close out the set. The set-winning point came off a tip that caught the Raiders off guard.

“I never tip because, for me, I’d rather hit the ball and get a point. In that moment, I was like, ‘Maybe it would work,’” Satterwhite said. “Thankfully, it did.”

“We never want to go into a game assuming we’re going to win. What we did was we came out really confidently,” King said. “That was the big difference-maker in those first two sets specifically.”

Navarre, coming off a “reverse sweep” against Pace in the district semifinals, took an early advantage in the third set. After a couple self-inflicted errors, between a double hit and crossing the middle of the court, for the Dolphins, the Raiders started to gain some traction.

It wasn’t until Sutter had three kills within four points later in the set that the Dolphins took back the driver’s seat, going up 12-8. She remained key late in the set with a few more kills, but it was Estelle Reece who hit a hard spike against a couple Navarre blockers, who pushed the ball out of bounds on the opposite side of the court to secure the title for Gulf Breeze.

“They just had to stay tough, be willing to take those punches and be back on it,” King said of the tight third set.

“Our setters and our defensive setters did amazing as well,” Sutter said of Gulf Breeze’s strong attack. “Without them, we wouldn’t be able to do stuff like that.”

Despite the loss, it doesn’t necessarily mean Navarre’s season is finished. Sitting at No. 8 Region 1 for Class 6A in the last FHSAA rankings on Oct. 12, the Raiders have a chance for an at-large bid. If Navarre stays eighth, assuming no upsets happened around the region, the Raiders will be right back at Gulf Breeze next week for the first round of the regional tournament if the Dolphins remain the top team.

“FHSAA, they put their own twist on MaxPreps, so there’s no telling. But I would hope that our chances are pretty good of continuing and staying alive,” Navarre head coach Ryan Davenport said.

Gulf Breeze earns the district's automatic bid into the Region 1 tournament. With it being the Dolphins’ homecoming this weekend, King said she’ll give the players “a couple days off to reset and focus on being a high school student.” But then it’s right back to work.

“These girls, when they’re on, they can beat anybody. I’m very excited about our potential,” Clay said.

“Last year, it was so frustrating to lose in the regional final,” Satterwhite said. “This year, we’re hungry to get that state title.”

An ‘aggressive’ mentality

It’s no secret that Gulf Breeze possesses some of the top hitters in the area. What makes the Dolphins even more lethal is that a team can’t key in on just one player. Between Satterwhite, Sutter, Reese and Lexi Pannunzio, all of them found success on the attack.

But when Gulf Breeze is on defense, that’s where things sometimes where shaky during the regular season. Thursday didn’t seem like a problem, however, with several blocks throughout the match from those same players up front.

“It’s a mentality, being aggressive up at the net. … That’s something we’ve challenged them to do. We haven’t always been great at it this season. There’s been a couple times where we’ve let some overpasses go and stuff,” King said. “We’ve recently challenged them to be aggressive at the top of the net, and own the top of the net, and the girls have done that.”

With the versatility of their hitters, the Dolphins’ setters have “done a great job of moving around and adjusting” to them, Satterwhite said.

“Grinding in practice is the biggest thing,” Satterwhite said.

Gulf Breeze also hit double-digits for aces against Navarre. Five players recorded an ace with Aubrey Tylavsky chipping in four of her own. It’s been a strength all season for the Dolphins, King said.

“Something we talk about on day one (of the season) is how important serving is,” King said. “Some coaches tend to overlook it, but at the end of the day, serving is one of our top goals.”

Energetic crowd

Gulf Breeze is the type of team to feed off the energy of the crowd, Sutter said.

The student section, affectionately known as the “Splash Zone,” had at least 30 students in attendance – and most were waving foam fins during the game. They brought an unmatched energy to the crowd, Sutter added.

“Once they get louder, we get louder,” she said. “Once we get louder, they get louder. It’s just a constant battle between us and the student section.”

“When the student section is loud, it is the best to play in,” Satterwhite said. “I just thank them for coming, because they add so much to the energy and it hypes us up.”

Even Davenport noted the crowd, mentioning that Gulf Breeze is a hard place to play. The Raiders have had to travel to Gulf Breeze for three consecutive district championship matches, and play at least once per regular season at the Dolphins’ home court.

“This environment, mentally, is very tough to play in,” he said.

‘We’re still chasing that district title’

Davenport was happy that when the Raiders executed their gameplan, the team was successful. “But executing it was at 30%,” he said.

When Gulf Breeze jumped out to early leads, it was hard for Navarre to find its footing. While things settled down in the third set and the Raiders kept it close early on, “it just got away from (them) at the end.”

“It was tough for them mentally in the first couple sets,” Davenport said. “We just couldn’t dial in and get focused.”

Even though the 2023 season might not be over for Navarre – the team will know its fate on Saturday during the selection show for the regional tournament – Davenport hopes that his seven-player junior class has an increased “hunger” next year, returning as seniors.

“We’re still chasing that district title. … I’m hoping that maybe someday we’re going to keep chipping away at this rock, and it’s going to crack open someday,” Davenport said. “How hard are we willing to work to get it? This group is getting a little bit stronger each year. … I hope the hunger is strong with a bigger group of seniors.”v

Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on X (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Gulf Breeze volleyball tops Navarre for fifth consecutive district title