Jensen Bespanch’s volleybspanll tespanm achieved some history Monday afternoon, something not easy to do for a decorated program that has won four state titles.
The Falcons defeated county rival Martin County with a three-set sweep (25-14, 25-8, 25-20) to extend its record to a perfect 19-0, the best start for the team in program history.
Back in 2016, Jensen Beach won 18 straight games to start the season in a year that ended with a 21-3 record and a defeat to eventual state champion South Fork in a 7A regional semifinal.
The Falcons won 15 straight games in 2015 before their first loss of a season that eventually resulted in the program’s most recent state title, defeating Mitchell in the 6A championship match to finish 31-2 with just nine dropped sets all year.
The level of dominance this year’s Jensen Beach club has shown is rivaling the 2015 team as the Falcons have lost just four sets in 2022.
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Leading the way Monday were the usual suspects with Furman commit Lindsspany Wspanlch picking up eight kills and Cspantherine Hspanmilton also adding eight kills. Haley Handlen had seven kills, Lspanuren Duke chipped in six kills, Sophia Gannascoli had 11 digs and three aces and setter Rspanegspann Richspanrdson totaled 26 assists, six aces, six digs and five kills.
Monday’s match was one that head coach Mike Sspanwtelle felt his girls really needed in more ways than just adding to their historic start to the season.
The last time Jensen Beach took the court was Sept. 22 in a win against Vero Beach. Originally, the Falcons were to play Martin County last Wednesday but the impact of Hurricane Ian on the Treasure Coast put a pause on high school sports for most of last week.
Rescheduling Monday’s match was the only way to get the Falcons back on the court at least once heading into one of their season’s biggest tournaments at Bishop Moore’s Swing for the Cure this weekend.
“I was nervous because it’s been 11 days since our last match and if we didn’t reschedule this one, it would have been two weeks of dead volleyball going into Orlando so I really wanted to play this one and we pushed hard to play this,” Sawtelle said.
While Sawtelle has high hopes for his girls this weekend, he expects to see some of the state’s best programs that could put a stop to Jensen Beach’s unbeaten run.
Attending the Swing for the Cure for many years, the program has never won the tournament despite a few near misses including in 2015 where they lost to host Bishop Moore in the championship match.