2015 Season Ends In Rare Fashion For Lady Sharks

From the summer workouts to the last minute preparations before opening the 2015 season, the MDC’s Women’s Volleyball team held a breath of enthusiasm.

There was talk about this squad repeating as Southern Conference Champs and competing once again for the national title. Unfortunately, things did not bode well for the Lady sharks, going 7-8 in their first 15 matches and finishing with a lackluster 6-11 their last 15. By finishing the year with a 13-17 record, the Lady Sharks suffered their first losing season since 1989.     

Sophomores Adara Anselmo, Kelsey Taylor, Thalia Torres and Yorgelys Jaspe, were expected to hold down the fort and use their 2014 Conference Championship experience to fuel another run and lead amongst a team with mostly fresh faces.

The team lost all 6 starters from last season to graduation, leaving Head Coach Kiko Benoit with quite the conundrum.

He admitted that building chemistry throughout a roster with 11 new players was the main problem.

Team captain and Setter for the Lady Sharks, Kelsey Taylor described the season as a “frustrating” one.

“It was hard [and] frustrating.” The sophomore continued, “But [losing] makes you focus on the positives.”

One positive she said, was making an impact as a returning player. “[As sophomores], we tried to set a solid foundation for next year.”

Taylor’s impact might have resonated best on the court, where she averaged a near 10 assists per match (9.43) placing her at 19th in the nation.

Playing in her final season at MDC alongside Taylor, was Defensive Specialist Adara Anselmo. The Miami native finished 3rd in the nation in digs per set, averaging 7.41 per match. Her total of 482 digs were the most by a Miami Dade player in two years (DS Stephanie Hernandez finished with 484 in ‘13).  

Anselmo says that she is open to transfer to any college in the state of Florida and will take one valuable lesson from the program: “Hard work pays off”.

The two sophomores were awarded First-team All-Conference. Offensive hitter’s Thalia Torres, Naimir Garcia and Setter Yamilet Velazquez finished the season with Second-team honors. As an Honorable mention Yorgelys Jaspe filled out the spot for the team.