Lady Sharks Finish Third At NJCAA National Tournament After Near-Perfect Season

The Miami Dade College volleyball team finished third at the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament this past weekend in West Plains, Missouri. 

The Lady Sharks capped off a near-perfect campaign (26-1) by defeating Tyler Junior College (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21) on April 17 in the consolation match after losing in the semifinals to eventual National Champion Iowa Western the day before. 

It was the fifth year in a row the Lady Sharks reached the Final Four. 

“You always expect to win it all but when you get to a National Tournament everyone is good,” said Lady Sharks’ Head Coach Origenes “Kiko” Benoit. “We wanted to be first. We ended up being third. But we still had a great season, 26 and one, and the girls performed well the entire year. One match doesn’t define the season we had.”

The first-seeded Lady Sharks started the tournament with a win against 16th-seeded Lawson State Community College (25-20, 23-25, 25-13, 25-16) on April 15. Later that day, in the quarterfinals, Miami Dade defeated eight-seeded Blinn College (23-25, 25-20, 30-28, 23-25, 15-9) in a back-and-forth, five-set thriller to advance to the next round. 

During the semifinals, MDC put up a fight against fifth-seeded Iowa Western but was swept in three close sets (20-25, 27-29, 22-25). In the first set, the Reivers took a 12-22 lead but the Lady Sharks answered with an 8-1 run to knot the score at 20-23. However, Iowa Western scored the next two points to secure the set. 

In the second set, the Lady Sharks made a comeback after being down 10-18 early in the game. They had a match point after taking a 24-23 lead, but the Lady Sharks were unable to close out the game and lost 27-29. 

The third set was back-and-forth the entire way but was eventually won by the Reivers. Iowa Western only lost one set in four matches at the Tournament. Before the win, Iowa Western had been eliminated by MDC in three of the past four National Tournaments. 

“I think we were all frustrated because we knew we were the best team there,” said sophomore defensive specialist Paola Pimentel. “It’s a mix of feelings. There was pressure because everybody knew we were number one we but I think we just missed some details that made us lose that game.”

After the tournament, sophomore outside hitter Erika Asencio—who was ranked fifth nationally in kills per set with 4.42—was named to the All-Tournament Team. She had 65 kills and 64 digs in four matches. 

“There’s always gonna be a first, second and third. We have to keep moving and try to get better for next season,” Benoit said. “They should be very proud because of this season. Many teams around the nation wanted to be in the position that we ended.”