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Miami-Dade College Women's Volleyball grabs runner up in Missouri
After a defeat in the state title game against Florida Southwestern, the Lady Sharks faced Spartanburg Methodist for a chance to qualify for the NJCAA National Championship tournament. The Sharks would take home a 3-0 sweep qualifying for the tournament.
Coach Kiko Benoit would take his team up to White Plains, Missouri, where the first order of business would be Seward County. Alexandra Koleva would shine with 24 assists as well as Ana Tevdoradze with 12 kills. The Lady Sharks would breeze by Seward County with a 3-0 sweep to advance to the quarterfinals that same day.
It was about to get interesting in the quarterfinals for Dade as they entered the tournament as the #6 seed and now faced the #3 seed Salt Lake Community College. It was a 25-17 victory for the Sharks in the first set but the Bruins made a comeback in the second set winning 25-21. The third and fourth sets would not be a challenge for Dade as they get by Salt Lake 3-1 to advance to the semifinals. Once again it was Koleva with 44 assists and this time Romina Cornelio with 22 kills.
In the semifinals it would be the #2 seed Indian Hills that would be up next for the Lady Sharks. Indian Hills were threatening to be a challenge because of the way they played in the two previous rounds. That didn't scare Kiko's team as they would go for an easy 3-0 sweep showing their dominance. 29 assists for Koleva and 17 kills for Cornelio in this victory.
If you know and love sports, you just know it had to be written this way. Standing in between the Lady Sharks and the national title would be Florida Southwestern who they faced in the state title match. To win a championship you have to have skill, talent, and a little bit of luck and luck was not on the side of the Sharks in the final. Miami-Dade fought for every single point and made their opponent earn every single point. One of the most impressive efforts was in the second set with the Buccaneers leading by 10 and the Lady Sharks mounted eight straight points almost completing the comeback. They were only able to steal one from FSW falling 3-1. Koleva finished with 32 assists and Tevdoradze with 15 kills.
Miami-Dade finished runner-up in the nation and the institution is very proud with the effort and grit the program showed this postseason. They finish the 2022 campaign with an overall record of 24-9 and 11-3 in their conference.
Written by: Daniel Torres
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