Aquinas’ Barr, Coral Springs Charter’s Bruno are Broward’s Volleyball Players of the Year
St. Thomas Aquinas senior outside hitter Zy’Aire Barr knew she needed to step up to get the Raiders out of a rut midseason.
Coral Springs Charter’s Alexandra Bruno has been quite familiar with being her team’s go-to player in clutch situations.
Each came through for their respective teams with stellar seasons during the 2022 campaign, and it’s why they are the Miami Herald’s Girls’ Volleyball Players of the Year.
Barr, one of five seniors on the Raiders’ squad, earned the honors for Classes 7A-5A after leading Aquinas to the Class 6A state semifinals.
Bruno, a three-time All-Broward first team selection, was named the Classes 4A-2A recipient after leading her team to the regional playoffs with another stellar season.
Bruno led Broward County with 363 kills and also had 34 aces and 123 digs as the Panthers won their district and reached the BCAA Big 8 semifinals as well as the Region 4-4A quarterfinals.
After a successful high school career as one of the county’s top outside hitters, Bruno has signed with St. Thomas University.
“It was definitely a joyous experience and just exciting to see your hard work of travel ball and school be honored,” Bruno said. “This season was a demonstration of overall IQ and knowing when to swing big and when to tip the ball. I think I improved when it came to decision-making on the court. We had really good team chemistry and my setter (Sydney Mills) does a really good job knowing how to set me well.”
How excited is Bruno to join her college program?
She said lately she’s been wearing the Bobcats’ gear any chance she gets and even sleeping in school-themed pajamas.
“That helped build my confidence this season (once I signed),” Bruno said. “I wear the gear every night. I’m excited to continue to play for four years and hopefully more after that.”
Barr also developed her game by facing a tough schedule that dropped Aquinas into unfamiliar territory two-thirds of the way through the season.
Barr, who finished with 192 kills, 27 aces, 114 digs, and averaged 9.4 receptions per match, helped the Raiders bounce back from an 8-12 start and win 10 consecutive matches to reach the state semifinals.
“In the beginning we knew we were a potential team to go to states, we just had to get used to each other and along the way we created a strong bond,” Barr said. “We finally did that and put that into play and made it work for the rest of the season.”
Ironically, Barr said the turning point came in Aquinas’ victory in the BCAA Big 8 tournament against Bruno and Coral Springs Charter.
“Everything just clicked after that match and we just had this atmosphere about us that had us wanting to play even more,” Barr said.
This story was originally published December 23, 2022 at 7:40 AM.
