NEW TAMPA — In their season-opening victory over Jefferson last week, Freedom High showed many of the tools that portend another winning season in one short sequence.
Ellie Cole delivered a big block at the net for a point. Then, in succession, setter Katie Kurtz took perfect passes from her back row and delivered perfect assists to Naya Daniels, Yael Pitts and Launa Law for consecutive kills, two from the left side and one from the right.
That broke open a close second set, but it also showed coach Nicole Moore exactly what makes her team so excited for the upcoming season.
“I tell the girls all the time we have so much skill all-around that as long as they believe in themselves as much as I believe in them and their parents believe in them, I generally believe that we can be unstoppable,” she said.
Moore’s goal: make them believe.
The Patriot are coming off a 12-4 season, and a fourth straight district title. They return everyone but two players, including the top 2-3 players in every statistical category.
However, the goal in 2026 is to do more. While Moore is in her first year as the head coach, she was the assistant previously. She knows that despite the run of district titles, the Patriots have flamed out in the first round of the state playoffs each season. The regular season schedule has been easy, and program defining wins over top competition rare.
“Pretty much we’re in a fairly easy district when it comes down to it, and for me as a coach, I’m not content with that,” she said. “I think it’s great. I think it’s amazing. We should take that accomplishment and never just kind of brush it to the side because a win is a win, and we should always be proud of those accomplishments. However, I’m not content with it. I think if we can win districts four times, at some point, we gotta start moving forward each time a little bit more and more, and we continue to get stuck in that first round.”
But Freedom is trending in the right direction. It won a set in last year’s playoff loss, the first time that has happened since 2011. And team chemistry has never been better.
Moore inherits a team with several proven weapons. Sophomore Naya Daniels led the team in kills last year with 137, and Cole, a junior middle blocker, had 95.
Cole, who will also assume a larger role as a team leader this season, led the Patriots in blocks last season as well.
But the Patriots go much deeper at the net. Senior Ava Arrighi (73 kills last season), junior Gabby Jamsion (51 kills) and lefty sophomore Launa Law were all weapons at the net last year, and the addition of Pitts, a sophomore transfer, and sophomore Jane Galbraith provide added depth. It may be the tallest team Freedom has fielded, with several players in the 5-foot-10 to 6-foot range.
Additionally, senior captains Averi Addison and Kurtz — two of only three seniors on the roster — provide the team with its backbone. Addison is a libero (343 digs last year), with most of her passes going to Kurtz (306 assists) who then dishes to a plethora of options in the front. Junior Sydney Permuth and sophomores Riley Stockwood and Liahn Franco round out the defense.
Moore thinks her team has all the bases covered, and then some. She sees the real work ahead as mental. Preseason games against Tampa Prep and Wharton exposed some of those issues. Moore called it eye-opening.
“We have all of the skill. We have such a great offense. We have great defense. We have the setters,” Moore said. “The only thing is we struggle with the mental side, and that’s going to be our biggest hurdle this season.”
Freedom will also have multiple opportunities to pick up the signature wins it has lacked, thanks to a toughened schedule. This Thursday, Aug. 27, the Patriots host Class 6A runner-up Bloomingdale, which was 20-2 last year, and games against Steinbrenner (16-9), Newsome (19-5), and rival Wharton await. The Patriots are also playing in the Florida GEM Classic at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus, which features more than 100 teams from around the state.
Freedom remains a young team, with nine underclassmen. Moore, however, is betting that a tougher non-district schedule, and maybe a win or two against some of the area’s better teams, gives her young group the confidence to finally push through past the playoff round that has stopped Freedom four years running.
“We have the skill and we have the talent to do it,” Moore said. “That’s my goal.”
Freedom
Last year: 12-4, district champion
Key returners: Launa Law, So., RS; Gabby Jamison, Jr., S/RS; Ava Arrighi, Sr., OH; Naya Daniels, So., OH; Averi Addison, Sr., L/DS; Katie Kurtz, Sr., S/RS; Ellie Cole, Jr., MB/OH.
Outlook: Favored to win a fifth straight district title, but the team wants more in 2026.
Wharton
Last year: 10-10, made Class 6A playoffs.
Key losses: Lauren Galfond, Courtney Dubs, Makiah Bryant.
Key returners: Katie Toso, Sr., MB; Jordyn Perez, Sr., S; Lyla Barber, Sr., DS; Amia Kennerdy, Sr., OH; Zoe Ananga, So., S; Maliyah Battle, Sr., L; Emma Skelson, Sr., OH.
Outlook: The Wildcats return a host of key players as they bid for a 12th straight trip to the state playoffs.
The offense will run through Kennerdy, who has led the team in kills each of her three seasons, with 211, 154 and 141. The 5-foot-11 senior had 10 in the season-opening win over East Bay.
Skelson (five kills), sophomore Hailey Andress (five) and Toso (four) also contributed at the net.
Toso will be one of the area’s top players, with an all-around game that also produced nine assists and nine aces in the season opener. The Wildcats defense will be anchored by last year’s digs leader, Bryant, as well as strong receivers Ananga and Petschel. Newcomers to the varsity roster, sophomore outside hitter Sophia Moncayo Moran and freshman hitter Sara Langlois, are expected to have an impact.
The Wildcats will once again be in the playoff hunt, though the district is brutal, featuring five playoff teams from a year ago.