Gulliver’s Taylor and Doral’s Gonzalez are Miami-Dade Volleyball Players of the Year
Neither Jackie Taylor or Melissa Gonzalez thought they’d reach the heights they did when they started playing volleyball.
For Taylor, the daughter of the late NFL and Miami Hurricanes football star Sean Taylor and a soccer player growing up, playing volleyball started out as just a hobby.
Four years later, Jackie is a star middle hitter at her father’s alma mater and a state champion about to continue her career at the University of North Carolina.
For Gonzalez, playing the sport as a setter didn’t seem like the most thrilling or rewarding.
Now a junior at Doral Academy on the radar of multiple colleges, Gonzalez is one of the best players in the state at her position and has helped the Firebirds secure a pair of trips to the state final four.
For their accomplishments, Taylor and Gonzalez are the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade Girls’ Volleyball Players of the Year.
Taylor earned Classes 4A-2A honors after she powered Gulliver to its first ever state championship in November when the Raiders completed a 29-3 season with a victory over Orlando Bishop Moore.
Taylor totaled 418 kills and 108 blocks by leading Gulliver’s attack to new heights which earned her a full ride scholarship to play for the Tar Heels.
“Winning the last game of the season on a good note was a perfect ending,” Taylor said. “There was no other way to finish that game. It was meant to be. A lot of the stars aligned when it came to the state championship game. It felt like it was supposed to happen.”
Like her father, who set a state record for overall touchdowns in a season with 44 - a record that still stands - during his senior year at Gulliver, Taylor finished her high school career with a state title.
And Taylor doesn’t shy away from her legacy. She embraces it.
Taylor wears a thin gold necklace with three charms bearing the number 26 - her father’s number - around her neck.
During a recent Thanksgiving game between the Washington Commanders, the franchise her father played for in the NFL, and the Dallas Cowboys, Taylor was featured during a tribute to Sean, who was murdered during a home invasion in November 2007.
“I have a bunch of them,” Taylor said, referring to the charms with her father’s number. “I’ve really taken (his legacy) and made it become part of me and continued it which is super important.
“Just to be able to carry that with me and it be ingrained in me and something I carry through whatever I do on or off the court. It’s an inspiration.”
SETTING THE TONE
While splashy kills and spikes or blocked shots at the net often draw the most thrills from the crowds during a volleyball match, Gonzalez takes satisfaction in making sure her teammates experience such moments.
This season, Gonzalez was the engine that drove Doral back to the state semifinals in Class 7A for the second time in three seasons, thus earning her Class 7A-5A Player of the Year honors.
“You set them up and make them look good. When you set it up where someone gets a great kill, that’s the biggest satisfaction,” Gonzalez said. “It’s just about good communication overall. Not everyone likes to hit the same ball. It’s just communication and patience.”
Gonzalez finished with 753 assists and was a force both defensively and on serve. Gonzalez also finished with 114 digs and 40 aces.
She has also learned valuable lessons in leadership that she says have helped her both on and off the court.
“It lets me be a better leader and when you’re a setter you have to be a leader because there are so many things you have to stay on top of at the same time,” Gonzalez said.
This story was originally published January 5, 2024 at 7:40 AM.
