Freeport Volleyball Opens State Title Chase Tuesday in Tallahassee
Freeport’s girls volleyball team takes a 16-6 record and an at-large playoff berth to Tallahassee Tuesday night, opening the Class 3A regional quarterfinals against No. 2 Florida High at 7 p.m. Seeded seventh in Region 1, the Bulldogs are chasing the program’s first volleyball state title.
Second-year head coach Stacey Bennum’s club finished the regular season 16-6 and locked up an at-large spot in the Class 3A bracket. Friday’s district rounds showed both sides of the Bulldogs’ game in a single afternoon: Freeport swept West Florida in three sets, then ran into South Walton and fell in straight sets.
Bennum told WJHG she measures the season by more than the win column, and she believes the level of play has climbed in each season she has led the program. The talent is there, she said. The work now is consistency.
“We have a lot of power. We just got to cut down our errors. We serve very well. If we can serve well consistently, get them out of system, that’s going to be big for us,” Bennum said.
Tuesday’s match is the second straight regional quarterfinal for the Bulldogs. Last October, Pensacola Catholic swept Freeport out of the Region 1-3A bracket. This year’s team draws No. 2 Florida High on the road for its shot at the next step.
The road from there is laid out by the FHSAA: Classes 1A through 3A play their regional quarterfinals Tuesday, Oct. 20, regional semifinals Saturday, Oct. 24 and regional finals Tuesday, Oct. 27. Survive the region and Freeport lands at the state championship event at Polk State College in Winter Haven, where the Class 3A semifinals are scheduled for Nov. 3 and the championship match for Nov. 4.
