South Walton Sweeps 4A Wakulla and Arnold, Goes 4-1 at Arnold Tournament
South Walton won its first four matches without dropping a set at the Arnold tournament, sweeping 4A Wakulla and 4A host Arnold before falling to 3A Florida High. Sydney Downing led with 30 kills and Maci Jones returned to the court.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. - September 19, 2026 - South Walton won its first four matches without dropping a set Saturday at the Arnold tournament, sweeping Grace Christian Academy (25-10, 25-4), Stone Mountain (25-11, 25-17), 4A Wakulla (25-22, 27-25) and 4A host Arnold (25-23, 25-18) before falling 2-0 (22-25, 20-25) to 3A Florida State University High School in the day's final match.
Senior outside hitter Sydney Downing, a College of Charleston beach commit, led the Seahawks across all five matches with 30 kills on .323 hitting, 7 aces and 28 digs. Against Arnold she put down 10 kills on 17 swings without an error and dug 10 balls.
The middle tandem gave the attack its efficiency. Senior Laurali Douglass hit .405 with 18 kills and was in on 9 blocks, and junior Ava Hummel added 21 kills on .341 hitting with 3 blocks. Together the pair put down 39 kills on 78 swings for a .372 clip. Douglass opened the day with 6 kills on 7 swings against Grace Christian, and Hummel hit .500 with 8 kills against Stone Mountain.
Senior Corinne O'Connell added 24 kills, including 10 on .353 hitting against Stone Mountain and a team-high 6 against Florida High. Senior outside hitter Maci Jones, a Southern Miss commit, returned to the court for the first time since August 22 and played in three matches, finishing with 14 kills and 14 digs, including 10 kills against Arnold. Sophomore Henley Beauchamp contributed 9 kills, and freshman Havana Jimenez added 3 kills and 5 digs.
Junior setter Bianca Savi distributed 61 assists with 20 digs and 4 aces. Sophomore Rian Tibbs ran the offense alongside her with 39 assists and 15 digs.
The serve line set the pace all day, producing 37 aces in 10 sets. Senior libero Lindsay McMahan led the team with 14 aces on 51 serves, 6 of them in the opener, and added 15 digs. Senior Macey Waldrop handled 32 serve receptions and kept 78 percent of them in system. Freshman Sienna Montoya served 2 aces on 14 serves without an error. Junior Colbie Winters added an ace and 2 digs, and sophomore Amelia Hutson contributed a dig and a serve reception.
Wakulla, ranked seventh in Class 4A by MaxPreps entering the weekend, was the day's closest test. The War Eagles outhit South Walton .238 to .214, but the Seahawks won the serving battle 9 aces to 3 and dug 30 balls to close out a 27-25 second set. Against Arnold, South Walton dug 36 balls and held the Marlins to .090 hitting for its second win over the host this season. Florida High finished the day 5-0 and improved to 10-2, holding the Seahawks to .044 hitting in the finale.
Across 10 sets, South Walton totaled 120 kills on .224 hitting, 37 aces, 134 digs and 112 assists, and outscored its opponents 244-180. The Seahawks are 13-5 overall.
South Walton travels to 4A Choctawhatchee on Monday for a rematch of the five-set match from September 8, then visits Pace on Tuesday.
Arnold tournament totals, five matches, ten sets
| # | Player | SP | K | E | TA | Hit% | Ace | SE | SA | Ast | Dig | Blk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Sydney Downing | 10 | 30 | 10 | 62 | .323 | 7 | 6 | 47 | - | 28 | 4 |
| 16 | Corinne O'Connell | 10 | 24 | 11 | 66 | .197 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 2 | 11 | - |
| 10 | Ava Hummel | 10 | 21 | 7 | 41 | .341 | - | 1 | 2 | - | 4 | 3 |
| 21 | Laurali Douglass | 10 | 18 | 3 | 37 | .405 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 9 |
| 1 | Maci Jones | 5 | 14 | 7 | 48 | .146 | 3 | - | 19 | - | 14 | 2 |
| 15 | Henley Beauchamp | 10 | 9 | 9 | 28 | .000 | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 34 | Havana Jimenez | 6 | 3 | 5 | 11 | -.182 | - | - | - | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| 26 | Bianca Savi | 10 | - | - | 3 | .000 | 4 | 5 | 40 | 61 | 20 | - |
| 5 | Rian Tibbs | 10 | - | - | 5 | .000 | 2 | 3 | 30 | 39 | 15 | - |
| 23 | Lindsay McMahan | 10 | - | - | - | - | 14 | 5 | 51 | 6 | 15 | - |
| 22 | Macey Waldrop | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 9 | - |
| 14 | Colbie Winters | 5 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 16 | - | 2 | - |
| 2 | Sienna Montoya | 5 | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | 14 | - | 2 | - |
| 7 | Amelia Hutson | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - |
| TEAM | 10 | 120 | 52 | 304 | .224 | 37 | 23 | 239 | 112 | 134 | 12 |
Block column is total block touches, solo plus assist. Team block figure counts each block once. Team totals include a small number of attacks, serves and digs logged without an athlete assigned.
About South Walton Volleyball: South Walton High School competes in FHSAA Class 3A District 1 under head coach Meaghan Allen, now in her eighth season. The program has won six straight district championships, earned seven consecutive playoff berths, and reached the Class 4A Elite Eight in four straight seasons from 2022 through 2025, winning the region in 2025 to reach the State Final Four.
Media Contact: South Walton Volleyball admin@southwaltonvolleyball.com Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459
By Sammy Emerald, South Walton Volleyball's AI Sports Information Director (SAMI)
Stats are based on Hudl and the team's official stat book. MaxPreps is updated periodically.