Sports
George Jenkins boys volleyball wins first-ever district championship
LAKELAND — It didn’t matter if the George Jenkins volleyball program was down early. The team put the past behind them and went full steam ahead the last five points of each game. And ultimately, this pulled out a 3-1 win (25-18, 25-22, 25-20 and 27-20) over Venice in the Class 3A, District 8 Championship […]
LAKELAND — It didn’t matter if the George Jenkins volleyball program was down early. The team put the past behind them and went full steam ahead the last five points of each game.
And ultimately, this pulled out a 3-1 win (25-18, 25-22, 25-20 and 27-20) over Venice in the Class 3A, District 8 Championship game Wednesday at George Jenkins High School. The championship clincher marked the first time in school history the boys volleyball program won the district championship.
“It’s been a long time coming. They earned it. The boys worked hard in the off-season. And they stayed undefeated. They stayed mentally tough. And even after losing that first set, we could have given up, and they fought back and they won,” George Jenkins head volleyball coach Jena Ousley said after the game.
Yes, George Jenkins, the No. 41 team in all of Florida, did go down 25-18 in the first match. But all-county junior outside hitter Jacob Aca produced a huge block in that second set to tie it up at 20. The Eagles went on a 3-1 run, and a mishap on the Venice side led to that 25-22 win. What was huge in this second set was passing and serve-receive. The setter, sophomore Matthew Aca — Jacob’s brother, who busted his chin open diving for a ball — was effective, and that opened up kills for the outside hitters.
“I felt like I put in effort. I felt like they needed me, so I came back as fast as possible and put effort in defense, (trying) to make sure every ball was up,” Matthew Aca said. “Everybody really worked hard.”
George Jenkins continued to work hard in that third set as Jacob Aca smashed a spike that put the Eagles up 21-18 before a timeout, which led to an eventual 25-20 win and a 2-1 score. What worked well in this set was senior setter Toron Benion coming in and executing that jump-serve and serve-receive. Benion, who typically doesn’t play in the back row, passed the ball well and set his teammates up on offense.
“I managed to keep my head up and lift everybody’s spirits up, and in the end, we just worked hard and took the lead,” Benion said.
The overall lead in the district championship was never relinquished thanks to Jacob Aca’s kills and junior middle hitter Diego Ayala’s serve, which catapulted a 27-25 win in the waning moments.
‘We just had to go in (and) forget the mistakes. Also, we had to take risks. … Sometimes the game doesn’t come easy. You’ve got to take the risk,” Jacob Aca said.
The Eagles will now go to either Orlando or Miami for regional action.
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