{"id":14761,"date":"2018-11-02T16:56:15","date_gmt":"2018-11-02T20:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mdcthereporter.com\/?p=14761"},"modified":"2021-03-01T16:54:16","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T21:54:16","slug":"volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/","title":{"rendered":"Volleyball Player Still Haunted By Hurricane Maria A Year Later"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Valeria
Resilient: Sophomore defensive specialist Valeria Santos has found a new home on the Lady Sharks volleyball team after transferring to Miami Dade College last December from Puerto Rico due to the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Maria.
SEAN MOW\/THE REPORTER<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Valeria Santos never planned to play volleyball at Miami Dade College. <\/span><\/p>\n

In August of last year, she started her freshman season at the <\/span>University of Puerto Rico at Mayag\u00fcez where her father coached. He volleyball career was going according to plan. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, barely a month later, her world would be decimated. <\/span><\/p>\n

On Sept. 20, 2017, at 6:15 a.m., Hurricane Maria<\/span><\/a> struck Puerto Rico, devastating the small, populous, island. At the time of its landing, the National Weather Service observed winds up to 155 miles per hour.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cyclone brought with it 30 inches of rain and tornado-like gusts that tore through the island\u2019s heart. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was the fifth-strongest storm to hit the United States. A George Washington University study listed the death toll at 2,975<\/span><\/a>; up to 80 percent of the island\u2019s infrastructure was destroyed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt still affects me psychologically,\u201d Santos said. \u201cIt\u2019s as if it happened yesterday.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During the storm, she took shelter in her aunt\u2019s house in Vega Baja. The home\u2019s second level was torn apart, forcing the family to seek shelter on the first floor. <\/span><\/p>\n

As the storm made its way, the home began to flood and the family had to take turns sleeping on the few mattresses available. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandma would have panic attacks and I had to keep her calm the entire time,\u201d Santos said. \u201cAs I looked out the window and saw the trees fall and all the damage, I lost hope that things could ever return to normal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the island slowly regained electricity and cellular service, Santos and her father decided that they had to move to the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n

Her father, who knows Lady Sharks head coach Origenes \u201cKiko\u201d Benoit, spoke to him about Santos playing for MDC. \u00a0Though the volleyball season had ended, Santos left for Miami that December. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the beginning, she was kind of shy,\u201d Benoit said. \u201cTransitioning to the team was not that bad because of how we opened up to her. The hardest thing for her was the different culture we have here. The main thing for her to adapt was getting by in classes and trying to not think about how she left a part of her life in Puerto Rico.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

When she enrolled at MDC in the spring of 2018, Santos had to overcome countless barriers. <\/span><\/p>\n

She had to learn a new language and acclimate herself to a new city while balancing her classwork. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hard at first,\u201d Santos said. \u201cI had a hard time with the language and getting used to the school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During that semester, Santos spent many sleepless nights trying to learn the language, with Benoit by her side tutoring her. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor players like her, where English is the second language, if we have to stay until nine [p.m.] to make sure she\u2019s doing well, we will,\u201d Benoit said. \u201cIt\u2019s our job as coaches to make sure these athletes are able to move on to the next level.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, Santos had the support of her MDC volleyball family and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, who donated $250,000 to support displaced Puerto Ricans students at MDC.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the Knight Foundation assisted her in buying books, registering for classes and providing a counselor to continue guiding her, she found solace in volleyball. <\/span><\/p>\n

As she describes it, the moment she arrived on campus, the team welcomed her with open arms. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey welcomed me home,\u201d Santos said. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the 11 months she has been at MDC, she now feels rejuvenated. The Lady Sharks have remained undefeated this season and are poised to win a third-straight national championship. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing here is such a great opportunity for me,\u201d Santos said. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to make the most of the chances I\u2019ve been given so that I can continue my career and studies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She has also made a seamless transition on the court in her first season for the Lady Sharks. <\/span><\/p>\n

The diminutive defensive specialist has started all 23 of the matches she has played, providing a mature approach to the game and rescuing her team from defensive lapses. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe acts like she\u2019s been on the team since last year,\u201d sophomore setter Paola Pena said. \u201cJust how she is and how her personality fits, she helps keep the team united.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Santos returned to Puerto Rico this past summer. Her homeland, she says, is far from recovered. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPlaces were still without power, there was little phone reception and buildings remained damaged,\u201d Santos said. <\/span><\/p>\n

But she has faith the island will bounce back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re [Puerto Ricans] very strong-willed,\u201d Santos said. \u201cI know that we can rise past this and work hard to return our island to the place we called home before the hurricane.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valeria Santos never planned to play volleyball at Miami Dade College. In August of last year, she started her freshman season at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayag\u00fcez where her father coached. He volleyball career was going according to plan. However, barely a month later, her world would be decimated. On Sept. 20, 2017, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":463,"featured_media":14762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14,2749,2804],"tags":[56,249,1505,1892],"class_list":{"0":"post-14761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-sports","9":"category-kendall-campus","10":"category-volleyball","11":"tag-volleyball","12":"tag-lady-sharks","13":"tag-puerto-rico","14":"tag-hurricane-maria"},"yoast_head":"\nVolleyball Player Still Haunted By Hurricane Maria A Year Later<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Though Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico a year ago, the damage it caused to her homeland still weighs heavily on Lady Sharks sophomore Valeria Santos.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Volleyball Player Still Haunted By Hurricane Maria A Year Later\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Though Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico a year ago, the damage it caused to her homeland still weighs heavily on Lady Sharks sophomore Valeria Santos.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Reporter: The Student Newspaper at Miami Dade College\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-02T20:56:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-01T21:54:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Valeria-Santos2b-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christian Ortega\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christian Ortega\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Christian Ortega\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/516425b8be1fb91869036075ca0d6ba6\"},\"headline\":\"Volleyball Player Still Haunted By Hurricane Maria A Year Later\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-02T20:56:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-01T21:54:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":838,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/Valeria-Santos2b.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Volleyball\",\"Lady Sharks\",\"Puerto Rico\",\"Hurricane Maria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Sports\",\"Kendall Campus\",\"Volleyball\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/\",\"name\":\"Volleyball Player Still Haunted By Hurricane Maria A Year Later\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/Valeria-Santos2b.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-02T20:56:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-01T21:54:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"Though Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico a year ago, the damage it caused to her homeland still weighs heavily on Lady Sharks sophomore Valeria Santos.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/Valeria-Santos2b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/Valeria-Santos2b.jpg\",\"width\":5472,\"height\":3648,\"caption\":\"Dig This: Defensive specialist Valeria Santos digs a ball against Palm Beach State College on Oct. 25. Though she is a sophomore, this is her first season playing at Miami Dade College. Santos transferred to MDC in December after Hurricane Maria ravaged her homeland\u2014Puerto Rico. CHRISTIAN ORTEGA\\\/THE REPORTER\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Volleyball Player Still Haunted By Hurricane Maria A Year Later\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Reporter: The Student Newspaper at Miami Dade College\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MDC The Reporter\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/R_reporter_logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/R_reporter_logo.png\",\"width\":315,\"height\":309,\"caption\":\"MDC The Reporter\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/516425b8be1fb91869036075ca0d6ba6\",\"name\":\"Christian Ortega\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/R_reporter_logo-1-1-125x125.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/R_reporter_logo-1-1-125x125.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/R_reporter_logo-1-1-125x125.png\",\"caption\":\"Christian Ortega\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mdcthereporter.com\\\/staging\\\/8357\\\/author\\\/christian-ortega\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Volleyball Player Still Haunted By Hurricane Maria A Year Later","description":"Though Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico a year ago, the damage it caused to her homeland still weighs heavily on Lady Sharks sophomore Valeria Santos.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Volleyball Player Still Haunted By Hurricane Maria A Year Later","og_description":"Though Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico a year ago, the damage it caused to her homeland still weighs heavily on Lady Sharks sophomore Valeria Santos.","og_url":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/","og_site_name":"The Reporter: The Student Newspaper at Miami Dade College","article_published_time":"2018-11-02T20:56:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-01T21:54:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Valeria-Santos2b-1024x683.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Christian Ortega","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christian Ortega","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/"},"author":{"name":"Christian Ortega","@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/#\/schema\/person\/516425b8be1fb91869036075ca0d6ba6"},"headline":"Volleyball Player Still Haunted By Hurricane Maria A Year Later","datePublished":"2018-11-02T20:56:15+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-01T21:54:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/"},"wordCount":838,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Valeria-Santos2b.jpg","keywords":["Volleyball","Lady Sharks","Puerto Rico","Hurricane Maria"],"articleSection":["News","Sports","Kendall Campus","Volleyball"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/","url":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/","name":"Volleyball Player Still Haunted By Hurricane Maria A Year Later","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Valeria-Santos2b.jpg","datePublished":"2018-11-02T20:56:15+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-01T21:54:16+00:00","description":"Though Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico a year ago, the damage it caused to her homeland still weighs heavily on Lady Sharks sophomore Valeria Santos.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Valeria-Santos2b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Valeria-Santos2b.jpg","width":5472,"height":3648,"caption":"Dig This: Defensive specialist Valeria Santos digs a ball against Palm Beach State College on Oct. 25. Though she is a sophomore, this is her first season playing at Miami Dade College. Santos transferred to MDC in December after Hurricane Maria ravaged her homeland\u2014Puerto Rico. CHRISTIAN ORTEGA\/THE REPORTER"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/volleyball-player-from-puerto-rico-still-haunted-by-hurricane-maria-a-year-later\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Volleyball Player Still Haunted By Hurricane Maria A Year Later"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/","name":"The Reporter: The Student Newspaper at Miami Dade College","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/#organization","name":"MDC The Reporter","url":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/R_reporter_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/R_reporter_logo.png","width":315,"height":309,"caption":"MDC The Reporter"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/#\/schema\/person\/516425b8be1fb91869036075ca0d6ba6","name":"Christian Ortega","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/R_reporter_logo-1-1-125x125.png","url":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/R_reporter_logo-1-1-125x125.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/R_reporter_logo-1-1-125x125.png","caption":"Christian Ortega"},"url":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/author\/christian-ortega\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Dig This: Defensive specialist Valeria Santos digs a ball against Palm Beach State College on Oct. 25. Though she is a sophomore, this is her first season playing at Miami Dade College. Santos transferred to MDC in December after Hurricane Maria ravaged her homeland\u2014Puerto Rico. <br \/> CHRISTIAN ORTEGA\/THE REPORTER","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/463"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdcthereporter.com\/staging\/8357\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}