Lady Sharks Lose In National Title Game For Third Straight Year
The Lady Sharks volleyball season ended against a familiar foe: Florida Southwestern State College.
For the third straight year, Miami Dade College’s title hopes were crushed by the Buccaneers in the national championship game— this time in Clarksville, Tennessee on Nov. 23.
The 3-0 loss left MDC with a 25-3 record. All three of the Lady Sharks losses this season were versus FSW. The first defeat was on Oct. 23 (3-0) followed by 3-0 losses on Nov. 2 and Nov. 23. Florida Southwestern State College’s only defeat this year was versus the Lady Sharks, a 3-2 win by MDC on Sept. 17.
But the championship match was not close. The Buccaneers routed the Lady Sharks, winning all three sets by a considerable margin, 25-16, 25-18, and 25-20. Miami Dade College was outperformed in almost every statistic, most notable was a .049 hitting percentage, an entire .207 percentile difference from their season average.
Leaders for MDC in the match were outside hitter Juliana Laguado Raigosa with seven kills, middle blocker Esthefany Rabit with five blocks, libero Mia Martinez with 12 digs, and setter Luiza Da Cruz with two service aces.
Despite the loss, the Lady Sharks had a remarkable season. They were 6-0 at home, 11-1 in conference play and were 18-0 to start the year before losing their first match versus FSW.
“Although we didn’t get the results we wanted, it was a good season,” Martinez said. “This year we developed differently as we were all quite disciplined.”
Martinez led the Lady Sharks with 529 digs, Rabit was the team leader in blocks per set with a 1.22 average, Da Cruz was tops on the squad with a .438 hitting percentage, and outside hitter Katielle Alonzo had the most kills with 266.
Alonzo received National Junior College Athletic Association First-Team honors. Martinez was tabbed to the NJCAA Third-Team.
In addition, Lady Sharks head coach Origenes “Kiko” Benoit was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame on Nov. 19.
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