Westminster Christian’s Zoey and Emily Matias are Miami-Dade Beach Volleyball Players of the Year

Despite both growing up playing the sport, Zoey and Emily Matias actually rarely served as partners on the beach volleyball courts, maybe two or three tournaments.

That changed this season when they were paired as Westminster Christian’s top duo for the inaugural season that the FHSAA sanctioned the sport. For a full season, they were one unit.

“As the season went on,” Zoey Matias said, “we got into a groove and nobody was really able to touch us.”

Their perfect 14-0 record on the top court, a mark that helped Westminster Christian reach the state quarterfinals, epitomized that. It’s why the two are the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade Beach Volleyball Duo of the Year.

“It took us about two games to start clicking because we know each other so well,” Emily, a junior, said. “And we play well together. I know how she wants everything and what she wants and we trust that we have each other’s back.

Even at that, Zoey, a freshman, joked that being partners with her sister can be “bittersweet.”

“With your sibling, your natural instinct is to fight,” Zoey said, “but when it really got down to game time and when the times are tighter, you could tell that we’re sisters. It just feels a little special, like I’m playing with my little sister. The chance of me doing it again are very rare and not many people get to do that.”

Not many people get to dominate the way the sisters did, either. They didn’t drop a single match all season while playing on the top court and consistently playing the opposing team’s top duo.

The sisters’ dominance at the No. 1 spot along with Westminster Christian’s depth allowed the Warriors to run the table in the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record. Westminster Christian then swept through its district tournament and beat Doral Academy and St. Thomas Aquinas to get to state, where the chance for a state title ultimately ended with a 3-2 loss to Vero Beach in the state quarterfinals.

Zoey and Emily won their match 2-0, as did Lamaya Fuller and Gaby Arroyo on Court 3. But Vero Beach won on the other three courts to advance.

“This season was pretty cool,” Zoey said. “Going into the state championship, we were ranked second in the nation. Me and her walked into that game going ‘OK, we’re winning this game for our team and then go cheer on our girls. Yeah, it was upsetting that we didn’t get to win the whole thing like we planned on, but I feel like this group of girls is closer than any team I think I’ve ever been on. ... Even when we lost, it was like ‘OK, great job. You did a great job. We’ve got it next year.’ We’re going to work harder. Next year is our year.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 9:00 AM.