South Walton entered the postseason chasing a return trip to the state Final Four after earning a berth in 2025. Standing in its path in Class 3A was the area’s best team in Pensacola Catholic, the No. 1 seed and a team that looks like a state title favorite.
- On Tuesday night in the Region 1-3A final, a South Walton season that tested every ounce of its resilience came to an end as the Lady Crusaders won in four sets, 20-25, 25-21, 25-14, 25-14.
The first set was tightly contested, with both teams trading point for point throughout. That held all the way until the score was tied at 17, when a kill by Ava Hummel sparked a 6-3 run for the Lady Seahawks. Catholic errors mounted and Hummel looked unstoppable down the stretch, and a Lady Crusaders error gave South Walton the first set 25-20.
The second set opened in the same manner. Ava Bradley gave the Lady Crusaders early momentum with a kill for a 5-3 lead, but South Walton answered with a 3-0 run behind a kill from Maci Jones to take the lead.
The set remained tight, with the teams exchanging the lead at multiple points and neither side truly in control. Pensacola Catholic eventually took momentum when a Bradley kill started a 6-4 finishing stretch, and Brandi Lee Rhodes closed it out with a kill to give the Lady Crusaders the second set 25-21.
At that point, it appeared it could be anyone’s match, and that the Lady Crusaders were mortal after all. But Pensacola Catholic showed over the next two sets why it has been the area’s best team all season long.
The third set opened tight before a Bradley block sparked a 9-1 Pensacola Catholic run. South Walton responded with a run of its own after a Catholic error, but the hole proved too deep to dig out of as Bradley, Rhodes and the Lady Crusaders’ front line kept the Lady Seahawks searching for answers in a 25-14 Catholic win.
South Walton took a 2-1 lead early in the fourth set, but a Bradley kill sparked a 5-0 run. The Lady Crusaders took full advantage, maintaining control the rest of the way to win 25-14 and return to the Final Four. Pensacola Catholic will face Region 3 champion King’s Academy of West Palm Beach in a state semifinal at a neutral site Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 10 a.m.
For South Walton, the match was the last for an impactful senior class. Jones, Sydney Downing, Corinne O’Connell, Evelyn Brandman and Lindsay McMahan will all graduate, along with fellow seniors Kailey Gorman, Laurali Douglass and Macey Waldrop.
Juniors Hummel and Bianca Savi and sophomore Henley Beauchamp headline the Lady Seahawks’ expected returners in 2027.
