Westminster’s Matias and Artiles are the Dade Beach Volleyball Players of the Year
Zoey Matias was a part of a formidable sibling volleyball duo with her older sister, Emily, in recent years at Westminster Christian.
Whether they were two of six players on the Warriors’ indoor squad or side by side on the sand on the beach squad, few could contain the Matias sisters when their games were on point.
But this season with Emily having graduated and playing at FIU, Zoey needed a new partner on the beach circuit.
Luckily for her there is never a shortage of volleyball talent at Westminster Christian.
Enter rising star Gigi Artiles, a sophomore and Division-I prospect who has made a huge impact in both seasons for the Warriors.
Matias, a junior and University of Missouri commit, and Artiles seamlessly kept Westminster’s beach squad the best in the county and helped it make a return trip to the state tournament this season.
As such, the duo are the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade Beach Volleyball Players of the Year.
Matias, shares the award with her partner on the sand for the third consecutive season, and for the first time with Artiles. The duo went 11-2, unbeaten in Dade and only lost to teams ranked in the top 5 in the state.
A few months after each was a key contributor in leading Westminster’s indoor squad back to the state championship match, Matias and Artiles propelled the Warriors to the state quarterfinals. As the 14th seed, Westminster upset New Smyrna Beach - the team that eliminated it in last year’s state final - and nearly pulled off another upset against Jacksonville Bishop Kenny before falling in five sets.
Matias and Artiles both return next season on what should be another loaded Westminster squad primed to make another push for a state championship.
