BY CLIFF SMELLEY
High school volleyball’s regular season begins the week of Monday, Aug. 19, and features a matchup between Bradford and Union County as well as home matches for Keystone Heights and Hope Christian.
First, Union plays in a preseason tournament at Alachua’s Legacy Park Multipurpose Center on Thursday, Aug. 15, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Bradford and Keystone play in preseason tournaments on Saturday, Aug. 17. The Tornadoes travel to Orange Park High School to play Orange Park at 9 a.m. and Stanton at 10:30 a.m. The Indians play in a tournament at the Jacksonville Juniors Volleyball Association Training Center. A tournament schedule will be posted on sportswrench.com.
Union plays the first regular-season match among the teams covered by the Telegraph-Times-Monitor, traveling to play Williston on Aug. 19 at 6 p.m. The junior varsity teams will play at 5 p.m.
On Tuesday, Aug. 20, Bradford and Union play each other in Starke, with a JV match at 5:30 p.m. and a varsity match at 6:30 p.m.
The Tornadoes will play another home match after the Aug. 20 match against Union, hosting Hilliard on Thursday, Aug. 22, at 7 p.m., following a JV match at 6 p.m. Bradford then goes on the road to play Baker County on Monday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m., with a JV match to be played at 6 p.m.
Union travels to play Oak Hall on Thursday, Aug. 22, and Lafayette on Tuesday, Aug. 27. Both varsity matches are 6:30 p.m. following JV matches at 5:30 p.m.
Keystone and Hope begin their regular seasons with home matches on Tuesday, Aug. 20. The Indians will play Interlachen at 7 p.m., following junior high and JV matches at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. The Lions will play Hawthorne at 5 p.m.
Hope travels to play First Assembly Christian on Thursday, Aug. 22, at 6 p.m. The Lions play another road match on Monday, Aug. 26, against First Coast Christian at 6:30 p.m.
Keystone hosts Columbia on Monday, Aug. 26, at 6 p.m., following a JV match at 5 p.m. The Indians then travel to play Ridgeview on Tuesday, Aug. 27, with the JV teams playing at 6 p.m. and the varsity teams playing at 7 p.m.
Northside Christian doesn’t begin its season until Friday, Aug. 23, with a road match against Gainesville Christian Community at 5 p.m.
On Tuesday, Aug. 27, Hope and Northside play each other at Hope at 5 p.m.
