Bishop Kenny celebrated like it was 1999 – only better.
The Crusaders won their first state volleyball title since 1999 with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-17) sweep of Merritt Island in the Class 5A championship match. That victory boosted the program’s best record in school history to 31-1.
Ranked 11th in the nation by MaxPreps, Bishop Kenny established their dominance early with 12-straight points for a 16-3 lead in the first set. They closed the set with a 7-2 run for the 25-10 win.
In the second set, USF-bound Molly Burkhardt (11 kills) was too much at the net for the Mustangs. She helped the Crusaders take a 13-5 lead with an 11-1 run that was ended by Marina Morales’ kill. Later in the set, Merritt Island rallied to pull within four.
And later with Bishop Kenny two points from taking the second set, the Mustangs scored four-consecutive points, including an ace by Anna Garrett and one of Alyssa Zwolensky’s six kills. But the Crusaders ended the rally and closed out the set.
A 6-1 run in the middle of the third allowed Merritt Island to pull within two points of Bishop Kenny, but that’s as close as they would get.
Denvyr Tyler-Palmer led the Crusaders with 15 kills, which included her 1,000th career kill.