Three South Florida college teams still alive in hunt for national titles
Miami Dade College women’s volleyball team just finished second in the nation while two more local squads -- St. Thomas University’s men’s soccer and Barry’s women’s volleyball – are still in the hunt for national titles.
And then there’s Barry’s men’s soccer team, which was trailing Rollins 1-0 on Sunday in an NCAA Division II quarterfinal game when the game was postponed due to poor weather and an unplayable field.
The game will resume at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Orlando. Barry (12-3-3) is seeded third. Rollins (11-4-3) is seeded fifth.
Rollins beat Barry 4-2 in their only other meeting this season. The squads are Sunshine State Conference rivals, and Rollins leads the all-time series, barely, at 21-20-2.
Here’s a closer look at the other three teams mentioned above:
▪ Barry’s volleyball squad (28-5) went on the road on Sunday and shocked 2021 national champion Tampa, 25-21, 25-15, 25-18. Barry is led by Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year Diana Akopova, a 6-1 sophomore outside hitter from Russia.
The Bucs (28-5) have advanced to the national quarterfinals, set for Dec. 1. Seattle is the site for the final eight teams, including Barry’s quarterfinal opponent, the seventh-seeded Missouri-St. Louis Tritons (24-6), who have never won a national title.
Barry, seeded second, has won three national titles (1995, 2001 and 2004).
Concordia-St. Paul (29-5) is the only team seeded ahead of Barry. The Minnesota school has won nine national titles, most recently in 2017.
The team that claims the 2022 national title will have won three games in three nights.
▪ St. Thomas’ men’s soccer team, ranked seventh in the country in NAIA, is 11-1-5 and four wins away from what would be its first national title.
The Bobcats won their first two national playoff games at home by scores of 4-0 and 2-0. Now, they are set to travel to Decatur, Alabama, where the final 10 squads will congregate.
STU’s next match is against 10th-ranked Lindsey Wilson, a Kentucky-based college that has won nine national titles, most recently in 2011.
The Bobcats are facing at least two large obstacles in their title quest.
First, the weather forecast for Decatur calls for low temperatures in the 50s and, possibly, as cold as 33 degrees. That’s frigid for anyone, especially a Miami-based STU roster full of players mostly from South American.
Secondly, the top six-ranked teams at the Decatur site received a bye for this next round. STU fell just short of that, which means the Bobcats have to play an extra game, and fatigue could become a factor.
“We are annoyed,” STU midfielder Guido Cacciabue said. “We believe we deserve one of the byes. Now we have to play four games in seven days.
“We are prepared mentally. But, physically, one extra game is tough. Just one day in between games is not enough to rest our legs.
“But our strength is our mentality. We are confident we will show that we have the heart and desire to get the (championship) trophy.”
▪ The MDC women’s volleyball team, which has won 10 national titles in its rich history, came up just short on Saturday, finishing second in West Plains, Missouri. MDC lost 3-1 to Florida SouthWestern, its Southern Conference rival.
MDC, which has made it to nationals 21 times in the past 23 years, finished the 2022 season with a 24-9 record, but the Sharks lost all four of their matches against Florida SouthWestern.
“We’re as good as they are,” MDC coach Kiko Benoit said. “But they played better. They don’t make many mistakes.”
The Sharks, ranked sixth in the nation entering the tournament, exceeded expectations by winning their first three matches, including upsets over second-ranked Indian Hills (Iowa) and third-ranked Salt Lake (Utah). The Sharks also beat 11th-ranked Seward County (Kansas).
Two Sharks made the Nationals All-Tournament team: 6-foot-3 freshman Ana Tevdoradze and 5-10 sophomore Romina Cornelio. Meanwhile, 6-1 sophomore Jazmin Vergara has already signed to play for Youngstown State.