Jacksonville FL- Bishop Kenny won their third championship in school history defeating Cardinal Gibbons 29-27, 25-18, 17-25, 25-20 in the Class 4A title game last year. This year, the Crusaders are a different team but have the same focus to win another state title.
Just past the mid season point, the Crusaders boast a 11-5 record after defeating Fleming Island last night 25-13, 25-21, 25-18 in a straight-set victory. With wins over Bartram Trail, Bolles, Yulee, and St. Mary’s (NY), they find themselves currently ranked 44th in the state RPI overall, and 3rd overall in Class 4A. Two of their leaders return this year, and are a main reason why the team feels like they can best even last year’s record of 21-8.
Senior Bailey Chin had 11 kills in the championship game last year, and this year she is second on the team with 154. She had 164 kills last year the entire season. She attributes the teams success to being closer friends, and having better chemistry.
“We all want to use our best strengths at the same time so that we can work the best as a team”.– Bailey Chin
Chin, and junior Sarah Seabrooke both have 27 aces on the season. Alexis Chin leads the team with 30 aces. Junior Allison Cavanaugh has had to step up for her team. The loss of several seniors last year prompter her to increase her role as a leader. After all she was a key contributor to the team’s championship last year with 19 kills in the championship game. This year, Cavanaugh leads the team with 187 kills and tied with Rachel Skyles with 17 block. Even with a slower start, Cavanaugh says the goal is to get better game by game.
“Obviously we need to keep pushing our hardest in practice, because that’s what’s going to get us our furthest”. – Allison Cavanaugh
Kenny has a tournament this weekend in which Coach Suzanne Winkler hopes to shore up little things to get her squad even better as the regular season comes to a close. The Venice and Fort Myers tournaments should provide excellent competition and preparation, as the Crusaders march through opponents on their way to the playoffs once again.
