The King’s Academy girls varsity volleyball team’s season ended with a disappointing loss at home against Berkeley Prep in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s Class 3A regional semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 25. However, the overall season was filled with positive memories and achievements.
According to TKA head coach Bethany Avila, she realized early in the pre-season that her 2025 squad was talented, driven and focused on a successful season.
“When the players returned, I realized early, during a team camp, that the chemistry on this team is amazing, and the returners had all improved so much over the year with their club training and strength training,” Avila said.
The early part of the regular season schedule produced some strong momentum for the team.
“We had some early wins, and we then went up to the Tournament of Champions in Gainesville, where we got to play some of the top teams in Florida and other states, too. This showed us some areas we needed to improve. So, we came back and worked on them,” Avila said.
Early in the season, Avila could see that her team had many talented players with lots of potential.
“I think we were one of the best serving/serve-receiving teams around, and we were led offensively in kills and service aces in most games by 6-foot-4 freshman Mikayla Matuszko,” Avila said. “Our verbal captain and leader of this group is Miranda Knoll, who is our best serve-receive passer and is amazing on defense. All year, we were also anchored by senior libero Alanis Molina, who is a tough, fast, focused player.”
According to Avila, her squad had a great deal of success halfway through the season.
“We had a huge streak of wins mid-season until we met up with Divine Savior in a tournament final,” Avila said. “We continued to win, except the second time we played Boca Christian School. We continued our win streak to beat Cardinal Newman in the district final for our sixth-straight district tournament title win. We then beat Bishop Verot High School [from Fort Myers] handily in three sets in our regional quarterfinal. During the Bishop Verot match, our senior setter, Hunter Saltalamacchia, got her 1000th career assist.”
Avila prepared her team to win this season with a specific strategy.
“Most of the teams we beat in three sets was due to our targeting their weakest passer(s), and our ability to put balls away quickly,” Avila said.
On Saturday, Oct. 25, the season came to an end when TKA lost in its Class 3A regional semifinal to Berkeley Prep, 25-19, 25-17, 25-22.
“We just didn’t play our best as a whole,” Avila said. “We made more errors than usual. Our serve-receive passing was weak in the first set, and our hitters made some errors. Mikayla Matuszko did have a hot streak of about five kills and an ace in a row in the middle of the second set for us, after a timeout where I encouraged them to just attack the ball. Berkeley Prep just played really well with solid serve-receive, and our defense at the net just didn’t look as good as usual.”
For TKA, the high school girls volleyball team learned a few things this fall other than how to play winning volleyball.
“Many lessons were learned this year by the players, like how to play for God’s glory and not your own, about putting your teammates’ needs before your own, how to receive instruction well, how to focus our minds on truth and how that steadies us, how to be flexible through injuries and resulting lineup changes, how to rejoice with teammates who are rejoicing in awards/recognition, and how to trust the lord about his plans for your future,” Avila said.
The team finished with an overall record of 19-8.
