Buchholz Volleyball Caps Regular Season With Eastside Win

Buchholz volleyball beat Eastside in three sets Monday night to conclude a strong regular season.

Freshman phenom outside hitter Taylor Sembower led the Bobcats (17-5) with eight aces.

Buchholz won each set 25-12 and did not trail the Rams (3-18) at any point. The Bobcats also out-killed the Rams 38-5 and put up 17 aces to Eastside’s two.

“Matches like this are always tough for teams like us. We kind of have to just play our game, play our match,” Buchholz coach Andre Medina said. “Always a struggle with kids to keep them mentally focused, so that was the goal to stay mental, stay mentally in it, be intentional and just play our game.”

This win was an exclamation point on Buchholz’s record making season. 

“The expectation was that this was going to be a better year,” Medina said, “But there were definitely some milestone moments that defined our season.” 

The program defeated Santa Fe for the first time since 2019 and notched its first win over Gainesville since 2020.

“Us beating Santa Fe, The Rock and GHS can’t be a storm the field moment anymore,” Medina said. “This now has to become the standard. Not necessarily beating them, but being mentioned in the same breath, competing and understanding that when we beat them it’s an expectation not a milestone anymore.”

One of the many reasons Buchholz has found success this season is because of the new addition of Sembower. Which Medina alluded to following the match: “If she’s on the court there’s a really high chance that we’re going to win this next point.”

The Bobcats are awaiting the release of the Class 6A District 2 playoff schedule. The first round of district playoffs are set to begin Monday.

Category: Buchholz High School, High School Sports, Volleyball