Volleyball Team Has Rare, Poor Season

Expectations were high for the Lady Sharks volleyball team this year after the team made an appearance in the 2014-15 National Junior College Athletic Association Championship game.

However, the results were not as impressive this year.

The Lady Sharks finished the season with a 13-17 record, stumbling to the finish line with back-to-back losses versus Daytona State College and Santa Fe College in late October.

For the first time since Origines “Kiko” Benoit became the Lady Sharks head coach in 2005, the team had its first losing season, finishing 13-17.  

A number of factors affected how the season played out, the most prominent being chemistry, Benoit said.

“We would play well occasionally, and then it would be a completely different team the following day, ” Benoit said. “We didn’t have that leader that we usually have every year.”

The Lady Sharks opened the season going 0-2 against Western Texas College and Blinn College.

They followed those losses with a 3-0 victory against Western Wyoming, but then followed that victory with a third loss.

Another factor that contributed to the team’s off year was a lack of consistency. They usually followed wins with losses and small winning streaks with small losing streaks.

The team’s longest winning streak of the season was four games in  mid-October. In addition, the team struggled mightily on the road, going 3-6.  

One bright spot was the Lady Sharks’ 7-3 home record.

Other bright spots included several players receiving Florida College System Activities Association All-Southern Conference honors.

Setter Kelsey Taylor and defensive specialist Adara Anselmo received FCSAA All-Southern Conference First Team honors.

Naimir Garcia (outside hitter), Thalia Torres (right side hitter), and Yamilet Velazquez (right side hitter) received FCSAA All-Southern Conference Second Team honors.

Benoit believes the best thing to come out of this season was not anything that took place on the volleyball court, but something that took place in the classroom.

During the season, the cumulative GPA of the team was a 3.0, something Benoit was extremely proud of.

“That’s what we always shoot for, not just the athletics, but academics also, and academically we did very well,” Benoit said

With an early start to the off-season, Benoit  and his staff have already started the recruiting process to bolster the existing roster.  He wants to make sure the prospects he brings in compliments the players that will be returning next year.

“I’m being very selective now,” Benoit said. “We have the right players… even though we have the right team already, I’m waiting for a couple of more [players] that could take us higher.”