Lady Sharks Land Scholarship Offers
Five players from last year’s Lady Sharks volleyball team that came within one victory of a National Championship earned scholarships to continue their collegiate careers.
Silvia Galeano received a scholarship to attend Barry University; Eirini Chatziefstratiadou will attend Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri; Kathryn Hogan accepted a scholarship to Florida International University; Merrisa Murphy accepted a scholarship to play at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith and Carelis Rojas netted a scholarship to attend the Universidad del Este in Carolina, Puerto Rico.
A sixth player, Adriana Pena Sureda, is a walk-on at Florida International University.
Last year’s Lady Sharks volleyball team won 30 of 34 games, went undefeated at home and won all eight games against Southern Conference foes.
“Last year was awesome, because even though we didn’t have one of the strongest teams, we had great chemistry,” said Head Coach Origines “Kiko” Benoit. “We really didn’t have to talk to know what we were going to do. Just by looking at each other, they knew what they needed to do inside the court.”
A good amount of the team’s success last year can be attributed to the talented core of sophomores that have since moved on.
Galeano, who played outside hitter, led the team in digs (383), kills per set (3.11), and she received All-State Honors from the Florida College System Activities Association and All-Southern Conference First Team Honors.
Chatziefstratiadou, a native of Greece and last year’s middle blocker, led the team in blocks (175) and blocks per set (1.55). She was named the MVP of the State Tournament, received FCSAA All-State, All-Tournament, and All-Southern Conference First Team Honors.
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Hogan, who played middle blocker on last year’s squad, led the team in kills (330) and was second on the team in kills per set (2.89). She received All-Tournament and All-Southern Conference First Team honors.
Rojas, last year’s setter, lead the team in three statistical categories: hitting percentage (.407), serving aces (831), and aces per set (7.23). She received All-Southern Conference Second Team honors.
Murphy, who played middle blocker, was second on the team with an average of 1.45 blocks per set, and was third on the team with 260 kills. She received All-Tournament, All-State, and All-Southern Conference First Team honors.
Adriana Peña Sureda, who played libero, averaged 0.42 aces per set (3rd on team) and she was fourth on the team with 27 serving aces.
“On the court, if there was any sort of issue, that was that, but off the court, we were like sisters,” Murphy said. “We played for each other, and that’s why we made it so far, because we never took any bad situation off the court to the court.”
