Blue Wahoos honor Gulf Breeze beach volleyball for defending state title

• The Gulf Breeze Dolphins beach volleyball team was recognized at Blue Wahoos Stadium for repeating as FHSAA state champions and national champions.
• Seniors Izzy Beech and Karmyn Ferguson threw ceremonial first pitches.
• The team achieved a 21-3 record in 2025, following a perfect 22-0 season in 2024.
• The Dolphins have reached the state tournament three consecutive years.

A little less than a month after repeating as FHSAA state champions, and staying on top the MaxPreps national rankings, the Gulf Breeze beach volleyball team has had a few busy weeks.

The end of the school year had something to do with that.

Players had to go through their end-of-year testing, along with just the general festivities that come with being a graduating senior for the six on the team Dolphins that walked the stage at the Pensacola Bay Center.

But for a few minutes on June 5, in front of a few thousand fans at Blue Wahoos Stadium, the Dolphins took a chance to recognize just what happened during the 2025 season.

Gulf Breeze came into the season as defending champions, looking to have a good season once again. The team wasn’t exactly looking to stay on top as state champions, but just have a successful season. “And success can look a bunch of different ways,” Gulf Breeze head coach Chelsea Kroll added.

“We were successful in a lot of ways. Then it was just the jewel on top to be able to call ourselves state and national champions again,” Kroll said.

The recognition at Blue Wahoos Stadium included ceremonial opening pitches from seniors Izzy Beech and Karmyn Ferguson, who played together throughout the season and initially gave the Dolphins a 1-0 lead in championship match against New Smyrna Beach.

“It’s weird to think that we are done with our high school career,” said Beech, who was also on the Dolphins’ indoor volleyball team in the fall that made it to the state title game. “We’re excited to see what the future holds for us.”

“I don’t think it’s really set in for me, especially being a graduating senior,” Ferguson said, referring to repeating as champions. “It’s surreal that our high school careers have ended. It’s just crazy that it’s over. We accomplished a lot. But I feel like we should be accomplishing more.”

The cheers were plenty loud from the stands, and from the backstop where the rest of the beach volleyball team stood in support, as both players threw their pitches from just in front of the mound.

“I didn’t know how it was going to go. I was just hoping I wouldn’t toss it into the stands,” Ferguson said with a laugh.

Said Beech: “I was too worried about bouncing it (off the dirt), so I threw it a little high.”

Beech and Ferguson, along with the rest of the senior class, accomplished a lot with the Dolphins. For those who were with the team since the beginning, starting in 2023 when the group was in their sophomore year, Gulf Breeze has been to Tallahassee for the state tournament three years in a row.

The Dolphins, in their first year as a program, made it to the state quarterfinals before falling to New Smyrna Beach, which ultimately won the state championship. Gulf Breeze achieved an immaculate 22-0 season in 2024 to claim the state crown, before finishing 21-3 and defending that crown this season.

“Man, I’m going to cry. I’m going to miss them so much,” Kroll said when asked about the senior class. “All six of them have had enormous contributions to this team, both on and off the sand. It’s just an incredible group of girls that started this program with us, and now they’re moving on to bigger and better things. They’re leaving some really big shoes to fill next year.”

Both players and Kroll all acknowledged how special it was to be honored by the Blue Wahoos again. The team was recognized after their first state championship, as well. Allie Hepworth and Sydney Sutter, instead of an “opening pitch,” had an ceremonial bump-set-spike.

Sutter bumped the volleyball to Hepworth, who set up Sutter for a spike to home plate. But that doesn’t take away how special it was to be recognized, again, as national champions by the hometown professional baseball team.

“It’s pretty incredible that they want to give these girls the platform to be recognized in the community,” Kroll said. “We’re really grateful that the Blue Wahoos have that community outreach and are willing to do something like this.”