Lady Sharks Add Size And Reload For 2022-23 Volleyball Season
Looking to build off a season that saw the Lady Sharks finish with a no. 6 national ranking, the Miami Dade College volleyball team has added a surplus of height to this year’s roster.
Five of its new additions are at least six-feet tall including Anllelivis Fernandez,a six-foot-seven opposite hitter who was born in Cuba but raised in Spain.
“We are going to be a little bit taller which is going to help us to block even more,” said Lady Sharks Head Volleyball Coach Origenes “Kiko” Benoit. “It is like a puzzle, you are putting pieces together and I think we were missing those pieces last year.”
The rest of the incoming class features players from the Dominican Republic, Italy, Spain, Texas and Georgia.
They join an impressive core that includes outside hitter Romina Cornelio, defensive setter Kiaraliz Perez and setter Luisa Melloni.
Cornelio was named the Florida College System Activities Association All-State Volleyball Player Of The Year and led the team with 353 points and 306 kills; Perez led the Lady Sharks with 425 digs and Melloni, who will miss four to six weeks after fracturing her right pinkie finger in practice, added 574 assists last season.
“[This] is a new team from different countries and cultures,” Cornelio said. “I hope we can connect with each other and work as a family.”
Here is a scouting report on some of the top new players:
Anllelivis Fernandez brings international experience to MDC. She has played on the Soria national volleyball team in Spain. Fernandez, who joined the Lady Sharks program in January and is majoring in business, is the daughter of Ana Ibis Fernandez. The elder Fernandez won four Olympic medals—three gold and one bronze— with the Cuban National team.
Last season, Fernandez played at State College of Florida and had 420 attacks and 153 kills.
Alexandra Koleva is a five-foot-nine setter from Bulgaria who played at Tyler Junior College in Texas last season. The sophomore was one of the nation’s top setters last season with 1,383 assists and 10.09 assists per set.
Esthefany Rabit is a six-foot-two middle blocker from the Dominican Republic who was crowned the best middle blocker in the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation in 2018.
Ana Tevdoradze is a six-foot-three outside hitter from the country of Georgia who played in the European Championship and the European Silver League in 2019.
Beatrice Carulli is a five-foot-ten outside hitter from Italy, Yanelis Cabada-Mendoza is a five-foot-eleven outside hitter and Nanyelis Sosa Moreno is a five-foot-eleven setter. Cabada-Mendoza and Moreno are from the Dominican Republic.
“We are not single pieces, we are an union that is trying to go to the national top,” Fernandez said. “My mentality is work, and if you always work hard at the end of the day you achieve it.”
The Lady Sharks start their season on the road on Aug. 18 versus Salt Lake Community College in Utah. Their first home game is Sept. 15 at 3 p.m. against Hillsborough Community College at the Kendall Campus’ Theodore R. Gibson Health Center, 11011 S.W. 104th St. Click here to subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter, The Hammerhead. For news tips, contact us at mdc.thereporter@gmail.com.
