Jackson volleyball coach Rochelle Strowder provided each of the five seniors on the 2026 team with a gift box after their Senior Night victory over Ed White on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. From left: Jazmine Kelly, Brayla Hill, Davita Kelly, Natalia Hamilton and Skyler Mitchell. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on October 8, 2026 at 12:32 pm
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Five girls sat in the middle of a venerable old gymnasium and let the emotion wash over them. They were victorious in their final varsity volleyball match on their home court.
For the Andrew Jackson volleyball program, their final home triumph was an exclamation amid a season that asked questions.
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The Tigers beat Ed White 16-25, 9-25, 25-17, 25-18, 15-9 on Oct. 1 in front of their parents, peers, families, friends and a few dozen others.
Jackson senior right-side hitter Natalia Hamilton says this season has been “a lot” at times. She says this season has improved her communication skills and willingness to give 100% at all times.
“We all have sister bonding outside of practice, outside of games,” Natalia said after the Senior Night win. “It’s really cool. We have all grown and connected.”
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Senior outside hitter and defensive specialist Brayla Hill says the team chemistry has been rooted in the big sisters on the team, welcoming and supporting their little sisters — the underclassmen.
“I see them as my little sister. They see me as their big sister,” Brayla told Jacksonville Today after Senior Night. “We make jokes. We get mad at each other. We argue. It’s like a family over here.”
Inhospitable welcome
The familial bonds were tested last month in Nassau County. Students at Fernandina Beach High School held a Black baby doll aloft during a Sept. 10 volleyball game against Jackson. They antagonized the Tigers to the point that a Fernandina Beach parent asked the school’s administration to intervene.
Jackson players and parents left Fernandina Beach feeling the incident seeped with misogynoir.
The reverberations have rippled through both Duval and Nassau counties in the weeks since.
The Raines cross country team decided to not compete in a Sept. 12 meet in Fernandina Beach in solidarity with Jackson’s volleyball program.
Tuesday’s volleyball contest between Jackson and Raines featured the inclusion of the entire Raines volleyball lineup.
Two Raines players were briefly removed from the team after they expressed reticence about competing at Fernandina Beach High on Oct. 1. Duval County Public Schools announced they were reinstated late Monday night.
On the court, the Tigers beat Raines 26-24, 25-15, 25-20 in their regular season finale.
As the match went down in Moncrief, the Rev. R.L. Gundy presented a letter Brayla wrote about her experience at Fernandina Beach to Duval County Superintendent Christopher Bernier on the Southbank.
Brayla wrote her Fernandina Beach experience was “racially offensive” and affected her in ways beyond volleyball.
“Regardless of how anyone else chooses to describe what happened, I can speak to how I experienced it,” Brayla wrote to Bernier. “As a young Black student-athlete, I did not feel respected or protected in that environment.
“What also affected me was seeing adults present while the behavior continued. As students, we are taught that when something is wrong, we should report it and trust the adults around us to respond. When students feel targeted or unsafe, we should not have to wonder whether someone will step in.”
Since September, civil rights organizations, pastors, unions and Jackson alumni have stepped in to support the Tigers. Three speakers addressed the Duval School Board on Tuesday night on behalf of the Tigers.
Bernier addressed the incident to the Duval County School Board on Tuesday night. He praised Jackson’s volleyball team and student leadership for seeking solutions.
Earlier this month, students from both Jackson and Fernandina Beach met inside the Jesse Ball duPont Center so both could grapple with the weight of racism, as well as the impact words and actions may have on groups.
“The students are working hard, with adult supervision, to solve and push this problem through,” Bernier told the board. “I’m happy to report. We did play the game. The athletes didn’t deserve to be punished for the actions of a few students and a few adults in a crowd. The students deserve to play their football games. They deserve to play their volleyball games. They deserve that to be in a safe place. They deserve to learn from each other as to the hurt and the pain that was caused.”
Valiant victory
The football game Bernier referenced took place Oct. 2 at Kevin Sullivan Stadium on Main Street.
Jackson beat Fernandina Beach 49-33.
Prior to kickoff, every player on both teams shook hands. A handful of volleyball players stood alongside their classmates on the football team. Bernier and Nassau County Superintendent Kathy Burns were also at midfield for the coin toss.
The pregame sportsmanship did not dampen the enthusiasm of some Jackson students for the Tigers to dominate the visitors between the lines and before the whistle.
The 1-6 Pirates scored the first 15 points of the game, before Jackson righted the ship to improve to 5-1.
What started as an emotional night became even more so when Jackson junior Irv Williams sustained a serious leg injury while scoring a two-point conversion in the second quarter. He was taken off on a stretcher and hospitalized.
Jackson’s football team wanted to win for Irv and their volleyball team.
The postgame handshake line featured the perfunctory congratulations that were on display at countless stadiums throughout the state. The exhilaration spilled out when football coach Bobby Ramsay told the Tigers to go celebrate with their classmates.
Growing up together
Natalia, Brayla and the Kelly twins, Davita and Jazmine, have been a part of the Jackson volleyball program for the last four years alongside fourth-year volleyball coach Rochelle Strowder.
“They hold a really firm spot in my heart,” Strowder says of the Tigers’ 2027 class. “The four of them were the first ones I ever coached here. Just seeing them through senior year, it’s a big deal. … They are more than just athletes. I’m big on student-athletes. The student comes before the athlete for me. To see them be able to come to a school like Jackson, where they’ve turned around their grades and be a part of that turnaround (is nice).”
Jackson outside hitter Skyler Mitchell will graduate high school in three years. She was also celebrated on Senior Night because she will be in college next year. Strowder considers Mitchell a bonus child.
Mitchell says she found a sisterhood with her teammates over the last three seasons.
“This experience, I can take this and use it in real life,” Mitchell said. “My takeaway is to not give up. From the beginning of the summer I said ‘I’m gonna quit because we were running — a lot.’ But, I continued to come. I gained so much experience and so much knowledge from staying on this team.”
Jackson was a “C” school by the Florida Department of Education when Jazmine, Davita, Natalia and Brayla enrolled. It has become an A-rated school in each of the last two years.
Truitte Moreland has served as principal amid the turnaround. Prior to the volleyball team’s Senior Night, Moreland greeted almost every student and supporter. Bernier stood next to him.
In the fourth game of the Tiger comeback against Ed White last week, Moreland sat in the stands with a beaming smile.
“There is depth to their experience at the school that people don’t understand” Moreland says. “The challenges they have faced as young ladies, and being respected, they are very unique to the times. … These young ladies are prideful. They are resilient. They are confident. A lot of people don’t see that. But, we do.
“They are sisters in a different sense beyond the sport.”
Davita plans to attend Florida A&M. She wants to study business so she can own and operate her own beauty salon.
Jazmine plans to become an entrepreneur after high school.
Skyler is a member of the National Honor Society who plans to study biomedical science at either Florida State or the University of Central Florida.
Brayla is also a member of the National Honor Society who plans to attend Florida State next year as she works toward becoming a pediatric anesthesiologist. The runner-up in the Miss Andrew Jackson pageant also has more than 300 community service hours.
Natalia plans to study psychology at the University of Florida next year.
Last dance
College, for now, can wait. The eight girls on the Tigers volleyball team are living in the present. Tuesday’s win over Raines allowed the Tigers (6-10) to finish the regular season on a two-match winning streak.
The Tigers will likely play Bolles in the first round of the District 3-3A tournament next week.
“If I wasn’t on this team, I would quit everything,” Mitchell joked. “Being on a team helps you find courage in what you’re doing. It helps you not want to quit, to be resilient in everything that you do and be confident in everything you do.”
