JAKCSONVILLE, Fla. – Out of all of the girls high school volleyball powerhouses in the area, only one remains alive in the state championships.
Harvest Community School is in the state volleyball finals for the first time in school history as they go for the class 2A state championship against Geneva at 1PM on Thursday. Head coach William Berdecia said that the post season was a realistic goal this year, but a state championship appearance wasn't something that he saw coming.
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"Our goal was to get past our first round of regionals," said Berdecia who is in his 2nd year as the Warriors head coach. "We won the district last year, my goal this year was to get past that and improve from last season. But the girls have taken it a step further and now we are here."
Senior outside hitter Rebekah Wilcox has been playing volleyball since the 6th grade and has been going to school with many of her teammates for longer than that. It is that bond and friendship on and off the court that Wilcox says has gotten them this far.
"Doing team bonding outside of the court really helped us. We spend a lot of time at school together but outside of school we are friends and I think that has really helped us and made us go where we are right now."
Where they are right now is the last local team standing in the state championships. Berdecia says that is a great accomplishment, especially for being such a small school.
"It is a good accomplishment for these girls and the school. People don't really look at small schools as being powerhouses in volleyball but this proves that even a small school can come out and make it to the state championships."