The Apopka Blue Darters were back on their home court Tuesday night for a key district matchup against Seminole but once again found themselves on the wrong end of a sweep. Despite stretches of sharp play and long rallies, Apopka couldn’t finish out a set, falling 25-19, 25-20, 25-21 to the Seminoles. 

Despite the sweep, Apopka head coach Brian Mater saw improvement from his team, particularly in energy and effort.  

“I actually was pretty blessed tonight,” Mater said. “I brought one of our [boys] varsity players to kind of help bring some energy, and he did that. They were listening to us a little bit more. I think the energy was a lot better on the bench tonight. They started listening because they started playing hard.” 

The first set opened with both teams trading points until Seminole edged ahead late. Down 17-16, the Blue Darters tried to stay close behind Marie Hughes’ steady play, but Seminole built a 23-19 advantage. Hughes delivered an ace to try and spark a rally, but the Seminoles closed it out with Hailey Ann Pierce dropping an ace of her own, sealing a 25-19 win. 

Apopka flipped the momentum to begin the second set. Brianna Young fired a kill down the line, and Hughes followed with another ace to help the Blue Darters grab a 6-2 lead. Seminole responded quickly behind kills from Madeleine Brignac and McKaylah Mattis, and the set tightened up again at 7-7.  

Apopka’s Madeline Sherrer and setter Taylor Cain kept the Blue Darters in front briefly, but Seminole’s Lia Hufford answered with back-to-back kills. From there, the set mirrored the opener: tied 17-17 before Seminole strung together a decisive 5-1 run, capped by a Hufford kill and an ace from Savannah Hertz. The Seminoles rode that momentum to take the second set, 25-20, and a commanding two-set lead. 

With their backs against the wall, the Blue Darters came out swinging in the third. A quick 5-1 lead had the home crowd energized, but Seminole countered with a seven-point run fueled by Mattis and Hufford. Apopka kept battling, tying the score at 10-10 on a Hughes kill and Young’s ace. But Seminole pulled away again on a 7-3 run, forcing a Blue Darter timeout.  

Out of the huddle, Apopka put together a four-point surge, highlighted by kills from Hughes and Bella Swindell, to climb back within one at 17-18. Cain even snuck in a clever set kill to keep the Darters alive, but Mattis and Brignac provided the answers down the stretch. At match point, Seminole misfired on an attack, but Mattis quickly set Brignac for the winning spike, closing the set 25-21 and the match 3-0. 

Statistically, Hughes was the heartbeat for Apopka, leading the team with seven kills, seven digs, three aces, and an assist. Napier chipped in four kills and two digs, while Cain ran the offense with 19 assists and two kills. Young finished with four kills and a block, and Sherrer added two kills and two blocks. 

For Seminole, Mattis and Hufford led the attack with nine and eight kills, respectively, with each also chipping in two assists. Brignac contributed six kills, and Hertz made key plays from the service line.  

Mater pointed to blocking, tip coverage, and limiting mistakes as key areas to sharpen going forward.  

“We’ve got to get stops on the block, especially on the outside,” he said. “Limit our mistakes — I don’t think we had quite as many tonight, but we did let a couple balls drop that we needed. A couple of mis-serves too, and from key players that we really count on.” 

Ultimately, Mater credited Seminole for their toughness.  

“This is a scrappy team,” he said. “They’re all club players, and they play hard out there. So it’s a lot of fun.” 

Apopka’s record dropped to 0-2 in district play, 4-11 overall, while Seminole climbed even at 2-2 in district and 9-9 overall. Apopka will have a week off before heading to Edgewater, where the team will continue a match that was suspended earlier this season. Apopka will open with a 2-1 set lead, then at the conclusion, will head directly into another match with the Eagles. The first match will start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7.