Gulliver’s Rodriguez and Doral’s Arnaiz are Dade Girls’ Volleyball Coaches of the Year
Emilio Rodriguez and Julio Arnaiz helped set the bar pretty high for themselves when they were in high school.
As members of the affectionately known, “Bald Eagles” boys’ volleyball squad at Southwest High in 2003, Rodriguez and Arnaiz were teammates on the first unbeaten boys’ volleyball state championship team in Miami-Dade County history.
Two decades later, they are each leaving their marks as coaches.
Rodriguez just completed his third season at Gulliver Prep by guiding the Raiders to their first state championship. Meanwhile at Doral Academy, Arnaiz just led the Firebirds to the state final four for the second time in the past three seasons in his fifth season at the school.
As such, Rodriguez and Arnaiz are the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Girls’ Volleyball Coaches of the Year.
Both Arnaiz, the winner for Classes 7A-5A, and Rodriguez, the Classes 4A-2A winner, are part of what’s become a coaching legacy in Dade on both the boys’ and girls’ side started by their former Southwest coach Mauricio Diaz.
Arnaiz, Rodriguez and Lourdes coach Pedro Penate, who has led his squad to the regional finals each of the past two seasons, are among several of Diaz’s former players coaching in Dade. Diaz, himself, still coaches the girls team at Riviera Prep and the boys’ squad at Southwest.
Rodriguez turned a Gulliver squad that had won only one match in 2020 into a cohesive unit led by University of North Carolina commit and 4A-2A Player of the Year Jackie Taylor. At state, Gulliver scored two impressive four-set comeback wins over Tampa Holy Names and Orlando Bishop Moore.
“For some reason, we play much better when we are playing from behind,” Rodriguez said at the state tournament. “It’s stressful, but these girls showed zero quit.”
Arnaiz, who coached at St. Brendan prior to his stint at Doral, has helped turn the Firebirds into regular state title contenders. This season, guided by starting setter and 7A-5A Player of the Year Melissa Gonzalez, Doral persevered while top middle hitter Izabela Molina dealt with an injury that kept her out for a month.
The Firebirds overcame rival Boca Raton in five sets in the regional final before falling in the 7A state semifinal to Tampa Plant, which was ranked No. 1 overall in the state.
“We came from not winning a district title since 2015 to winning three (consecutive) district titles, regionals championships and two trips to state,” Arnaiz said at the state tournament. “Now we have to take it to the next level when we get to state.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2024 at 7:30 AM.
