The Seminole Ridge boys volleyball squad has been a perennial state contender in recent seasons, but now the girls squad is putting Palm Beach County on notice, too.
The first half of volleyball action is in the books, and there are few teams that have staged a program turnaround as dramatic as Seminole Ridge, who have catapulted up the state rankings on the back of a 13-1 record.
That's been fueled by tremendous work ethic behind the scenes, and a drive to win the program's first-ever district title.
To do that which has not been done before, Seminole Ridge has a lot to prove. But so far, all the boxes have been checked.
"We've been working really hard," Seminole
Ridge head coach Scott Barnwell said. "This is my third year and my goal was always to try to get the girls to where I have the boys at right now. And they're buying in, and the results are showing for themselves right now."
The Hawks flew into this season with a tough opening matchup against Dreyfoos School of the Arts, who made a regional run last year and entered the 2026 season as No. 7 in our preseason power rankings.
Seminole Ridge leapt to a 2-0 match lead before taking five sets to close things out against the Jaguars, but most importantly, they got the job done.
Since then, things have been pretty smooth sailing against the likes of Park Vista, Lake Worth Christian, and Martin County. In early September, the Hawks traveled up to Orlando to face more stiff competition.
While they did not quite emerge unscathed, they dealt their fair share of blows to a number of strong programs around the state, losing just two sets out of 17 played.
That type of tournament was part of the plan for Barnwell to get the girls playoff-ready when the times comes.
One of Seminole Ridge's top players has been Dominika Hilton, a libero who has transitioned a position of weakness into a strength for the Hawks.
"She's been playing lights-out, so that's been really big, something we've missed in years past," Barnwell said. "And we've got a young setter in Gracie LaCroix, and she's been doing great for us. Obviously, Abi Chin Lee is overall one of the top players in the county offensively with 95 kills on the season in four games."
As the team returns to local competition for much of the second half, the Hawks can start to envision adding that banner in the gym as they put more ground between themselves and both Royal Palm Beach and Olympic Heights as well as preseason favorite Dwyer.
"The school's never won a district title for girls, so that really is our goal," he said. "And then whatever comes after that, we're just going to take it one game at a time."
Top players of the first half
MacKenzie Bryan, Sr., Benjamin ― 29 kills, 13 blocks, 93 digs, 256 assists (12 games played)
Abi Chin Lee, Sr., Seminole Ridge ― 232 kills, 30 aces, 8 blocks, 159 digs, 202 serve receptions (15 games played)
Briana Downs, So., Berean Christian ― 104 kills, 27 aces, 68 digs, 127 serve receptions (9 games played)
Alexandra Elberg, So., Boca Raton ― 46 kills, 31 aces, 70 digs, 130 serve receptions (16 games played)
Kaija Fullerton, Sr., Jupiter ― 69 kills, 10 blocks, 50 digs, 67 serve receptions (7 games played)
Bella Levitt, Sr., Dwyer ― 78 kills, 11 aces, 26 blocks (8 games played)
Natalia Marciante, Sr., Boca Raton Christian ― 142 kills, 20 aces, 14 blocks, 87 digs, 151 serve receptions (12 games played)
Jordan Molnar, Jr., King's Academy ― 27 kills, 17 blocks, 47 digs, 254 assists (6 games played)
Luiza Queiroz, Fr., St. Andrew's ― 126 kills, 19 aces, 69 digs, 84 serve receptions (11 games played)
Jordan Quezada, Sr., Lake Worth Christian ― 54 kills, 19 aces, 9 blocks, 72 digs, 155 assists (11 games played)
Peterman's power rankings
- King's Academy
- Jupiter
- Boca Raton Christian
- Sr. Andrew's
- Seminole Ridge
- Boca Raton
- Dwyer
- Benjamin
- Berean Christian
- Jupiter Christian
Alex Peterman is a high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at apeterman@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County high school volleyball: Midseason report 2026
