The FSCJ women's volleyball team's season came to an unexpected end after suffering two heartbreaking losses at home in the regional tournament. Hosted by FSCJ on Nov. played on Nov. 45. Coming into the double elimination, bracket-style tournament, the Stars were playing well, winning 6 of their last 9 games.
Eight teams were fighting for two available spots in the upcoming National Tournament to be played in West Plains, Missouri. The teams included Miami-Dade College, FSCJ, College of Central Florida, Polk State College, Hillsborough Community College, Indian River State College, Pensacola State College, and St. Petersburg College.
In the Stars first match on Friday, they took the court against perennial power and 37-time state champion Miami-Dade. The stars were seeking revenge for a loss suffered earlier in the season to Miami-Dade in the Dig for Pink Tournament. They fought hard but Miami-Dade and middle blocker Marifranchi Rodriguez, the top rated national player, proved to be too much. Miami-Dade emerged victorious winning in straight sets, 18-25, 15-25, 15-25. That opening day loss put the Stars back's against the wall. They would have to win three consecutive games over the following two days in order to advance.
On Saturday at 3 p.m., the Stars looked determined to continue their season when they faced Indiana River from Fort Pierce. After narrowly losing a sloppy first set 25-27, the Stars bounced back with a vengeance in the second. They passed well and played stifling defense in the tightly contested second set, and were able pull away at the end, winning 25-20.
The third and fourth sets were dominated by two of the veterans of team, Kanesha Burch and Olivia Van Deusen. Crisp, accurate passes enabled sophomore setter Van Deusen the luxury of picking out her targets on either side of the court to attack the Indian River defense. The majority of her passes ended on the palm of Burch, who was able to rack up more kills than Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Terminator." The Stars won the final two sets, 25-12 and 25-17.
The Stars played another game just a few hours later at 7 p.m. against conference rival College of Central Florida. Any loss meant the end of the Stars season, so the stakes were high, but from the opening point, the Stars looked flat.
"Central Florida is just a more seasoned team. We have enough talent to keep up, but too many players on the team didn't have their best game," said head coach Mary Andrew.
The Stars were overpowered by the international attack lead by two Brazilian and two Republic of Georgia players, and lost in straight sets 13-25, 18-25, 21-25. The disheartening loss brought the 2011 season to an end.
Miami Dade College won the Atlantic District Championship taking three straight games from Polk State, and College of Central Florida won the Gulf District Championship by winning two matches, 3-1, and 3-0, against Hillsborough.
For the FCSAA Florida State Championship matchup, Miami Dade won three straight games from College of Central Florida to claim the title. Miami Dade and the College of Central Florida will move on to the NJCAA National Championship in West Plains, Missouri, on Nov. 17-19.
But it wasn't all sour grapes. Middle blocker Kanesha Burch was named First Team All Tournament to go along with her season awards of First Team All State and First Team All Regional. Olivia Van Deusen was also honored with a First Team All Conference selection. The Stars finished the 2011 season with 19 wins and 16 losses.
"We improved a lot over the course of the season as a team. Our goal coming in was to have a 20 win season, and with so many freshman we came one win away from reaching that goal, and that is a great accomplishment," said coach Andrew.
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this article!