BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
If new Bradford High School Head Volleyball Coach Chelsea LeMire could get the Tornadoes into the regional playoffs in 2023, it would mark the first playoff appearance in seven years and the second in the last 14 years.
Winning a playoff game would be even more impressive.
Only two coaches have taken Bradford past the first round of the playoffs: Inez Diggs in 1990 and Shari Bishop in 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2003. Bishop’s 1996, 2000 and 2003 teams each went 2-1 in the playoffs, making her the only coach to have led a team to two postseason wins in a season.
Overall, Bishop guided the Tornadoes to the playoffs in 10 seasons. Bradford has qualified for postseason play only three times since Bishop, making it in 2005 under Coach Matt Moore, 2009 under Coach Tara Tomlinson and 2016 under Coach Robbie Best.
The Telegraph-Times-Monitor takes a look back at the three teams that won two playoff matches before their seasons ended one win shy of the Final Four.
Note: Though Diggs’ 1990 team went 1-1 in the postseason, it, too, was one win shy of reaching the state semifinals as the playoffs consisted of less rounds then.
Also, the 1996 and 2000 teams played under volleyball’s old scoring system in which you earned a point only if you were serving. Those teams played a best-2-out-of-3 set format, with 15 being the number to reach to win a set.
1996
Bradford compiled an 8-0 record against District 5-4A opponents during the regular season, earning the Tornadoes the number-one seed in the district tournament. The Tornadoes played Eastside in the semifinals, winning 2-1 (15-1, 10-15, 15-4).
Lane Tougaw had 26 assists, while Andrana Hamm had 19 service points, 10 digs and six kills. Shameka Walker and Salonika McNeal recorded nine and eight kills, respectively, while Mimi Blye had seven kills. McNeal and Charlene Wright each had eight digs.
Bradford won its fourth straight district title by defeating North Marion 2-0 (15-2, 15-13). Hamm had 13 digs, while Tougaw recorded 18 assists. Blye and Walker had eight and seven kills, respectively, with Walker also adding eight digs and seven points. McNeal had 12 points.
The Tornadoes moved on to face Brooksville Central in the regional quarterfinals, winning 2-0 (15-11, 15-12). Bradford jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first set and scored the first five points in the second set en route to building a 10-3 lead.
Tougaw recorded 18 assists and 11 digs, while Walker had 12 digs and 10 kills. Hamm had 14 digs, while Monica Tyson and Celacey Green had 11 and 10, respectively.
Blye had eight kills.
The regional semifinals and championship game were all played in the same day at BHS. After Bishop Kenny defeated Pace in the first semifinal game, the Tornadoes defeated Eustis 2-1 (15-6, 10-15, 15-12). Bradford then had to turn around and play Bishop Kenny, which handed Bradford a 2-0 (15-8, 15-8) loss.
“I don’t know who the genius is that sets up these schedules, but I don’t know how you can expect play on this level to be fair under the current setup, with one team well rested and the other tired,” Bishop said. “I think if the final had been held the next day, the outcome would have been very different.”
In the win over Eustis, Tougaw had 24 assists, nine digs, six kills and two blocks. Hamm and Walker had 10 and eight kills, respectively, with Hamm adding 10 digs and Walker adding 17 digs and three aces.
Blye recorded seven kills, while McNeal had six to go along with 11 digs, 10 points and three aces. Green had 10 digs and five kills.
In the loss to Bishop Kenny, Hamm led the team in digs with 15, while Walker had nine, Green had seven, Blye and McNeal each had six and Tyson had five.
Walker also had six kills and two blocks, while Tougaw had nine assists and two blocks.
Bradford finished the season 20-7.
2000
Though the Tornadoes posted a program-high 23 wins in 1999, they fell in the regional semifinals, ending their season with a 23-6 record.
The 2000 team went one round deeper in the playoffs in what was a 19-13 season. Bradford went 10-0 against District 3-3A competition during the regular season and was the top seed in the district tournament.
Bradford opened the tournament with a 2-0 (15-3, 15-13) semifinal win over West Nassau. Sherry Covington posted eight kills and five digs, while Candice Bennett had nine digs and six points.
JoJo Reddish and Lindsey Mains recorded 12 and nine assists, respectively.
Cena Anderson had eight points, while Alicia Paterson had five points and three aces.
The Tornadoes then won their third straight district title and their seventh in eight years, defeating Fort White 2-1 (13-15, 15-6, 15-8).
Bradford built an 11-2 lead in the first set before Fort White rallied for the win.
It was tied at 6-6 in the second set when the Tornadoes scored seven straight points with Erica Norman serving. The run included two aces by Norman and two kills by Covington. A Starr Pittman kill and a Bennett ace closed out the set.
Bradford trailed 6-2 in the third set before scoring eight straight points with Anderson serving. Anderson had two aces during that span, which also included three kills by Covington. Bennett had the match-winning kill.
Bennett finished with 14 digs and 11 points, while Khiana Williams had 12 kills, 13 digs, eight points and three blocks.
Anderson and Pittman each had 11 digs, with Anderson adding six points.
Covington recorded 11 kills and eight digs, while Mains and Norman each had six digs. Mains added 24 assists, while Norman added nine points.
The Tornadoes began the regional playoffs with a 2-1 (15-5, 7-15, 16-14) quarterfinal win over Bartram Trail.
Bradford appeared as if it was on its way to a sweep, building a 6-1 lead in the second set. The Bears rallied and scored the final eight points of the set to take the win.
The Tornadoes scored the first 10 points of the third set, with seven coming with Mains serving. Bartram Trail rallied again to tie the score. The Bears later led 14-12 before Bradford scored four straight points to close out the match.
Covington and Williams each had nine kills, with Covington adding three blocks and Williams adding 15 digs and six points.
Anderson had nine points, while Bennett and Mains each had eight. Mains also had 15 assists.
In the regional semifinals, the Tornadoes defeated Pensacola Catholic 2-1 (15-11, 13-15, 15-13). Bishop said the team had its “typical lapses,” but added, “We played the best defense we’ve probably played all year.”
Bennett and Mains each had three service points to help Bradford build a 7-1 lead in the third set. Pensacola Catholic rallied to tie the score. The Tornadoes later trailed 13-12 before scoring three straight points with Williams serving. Covington and Pittman each had a kill before a Pensacola Catholic error resulted in the winning point.
Mains finished with 23 assists, 15 digs, seven points and five kills, while Anderson had nine digs and eight points.
Williams recorded 18 digs, 10 kills, nine points and three blocks, while Kiley Alvarez and Pittman (who returned from a thumb injury in the second set) had 15 and 13 digs, respectively.
Covington added nine kills and eight digs, while Bennett had 15 points, four aces, eight kills and four blocks.
The Tornadoes’ season came to an end with a 2-0 (15-7, 15-3) loss to Bolles in the regional finals. Bishop though her team came out flat, saying, “Bolles is just a great team. We were mediocre against them.”
Bradford got two kills from Williams in building a 4-1 lead in the first set, but Bolles was able to put together an 11-0 run en route to the win.
Bolles scored the first 10 points of the second set.
Mains had eight assists and five points, while Williams had six kills. Bennett recorded eight digs, with Anderson and Pittman each adding five.
The Tornadoes finished the season at 19-13.
2003
It had been two years since Bradford won a district title after winning eight straight (1993-2000). The Tornadoes also missed out on qualifying for the regional playoffs in 2002.
The 2003 team changed all that, winning the District 4-3A tournament and advancing to the regional finals before ending its season with a 16-13 record.
Bradford defeated Keystone Heights 3-2 (25-21, 25-23, 19-25, 24-26, 15-13) in the semifinals of the district tournament.
The Tornadoes avoided dropping the first set after trailing 20-10.
After winning two of the first three sets, Bradford couldn’t close it out in the fourth, despite leading 23-19.
Bradford built a 10-5 lead in the fifth set. Keystone rallied, but Christina Lopez had two late kills, including the match winner.
Lopez finished with 14 kills, 16 digs, 20 assists, 19 points and six aces. Roxann Jackson had 18 digs, while Melissa Hale and Katlyn Hartley had 14 and 13, respectively. Jackson also added 16 points and four aces, while Hale and Hartley each had three blocks.
Paris Bennett and Tamala Bennett contributed 10 and nine digs, respectively, with Paris Bennett adding eight points and three aces.
Tosha Newman had 10 kills and four blocks.
Bradford defeated Santa Fe 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 17-25, 25-23) to win the championship.
Newman and Lopez had 12 and eight kills, respectively. Newman added six blocks, while Lopez added 26 assists, 13 digs and eight points.
Jackson and Paris Bennett each had 17 digs, while Hartley had 11. Jackson also had 13 points, while Bennett had 12.
Tamala Bennett and Hale had 10 and nine digs, respectively. Hale also had seven points, as did Shaunté Carter.
Bradford began the regional playoffs began with a 3-2 (25-18, 25-13, 17-25, 10-25, 15-10) win over Episcopal in the quarterfinals.
The tiebreaker set was a close affair, with Bradford holding an 11-9 lead. The Tornadoes then scored four straight points with Carter serving.
Carter finished with 13 points. Hartley also had 13 points, while also adding 19 digs and nine kills.
Lopez recorded 28 assists, 12 digs, seven points and six aces, while Paris Bennett had 22 digs.
Newman added nine kills.
The Tornadoes advanced to the semifinals, where they defeated Wakulla 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-16, 15-12).
Lopez tallied 23 assists, 22 digs, 18 kills, nine points and four aces, while Paris Bennett had 20 digs and 13 points. Hartley added 18 digs, eight kills, seven points and five blocks.
In the regional championship game, Bradford fell 3-0 (25-7, 25-20, 25-11) to Bolles.
Lopez and Hale had seven and six digs, respectively.
