Southwest’s Diaz and Perez are the Miami-Dade Boys Volleyball Co-Coaches of the Year
Southwest Miami has long been the standard in boys’ volleyball in Miami-Dade County.
But this season, that status was challenged by many programs on the rise that wished to establish itself as the county’s premier team.
When it counted most, Eagles’ coaches Joshua Perez and Mauricio Diaz found a way to get the most out of a younger squad to once again be the county’s last team standing and finish excruciatingly close to winning another state championship.
Although Southwest fell a couple of points short in a five-set thriller in the state final against undefeated champion Winter Park, the Eagles once again proved they are still the team to beat.
The tutelage of Perez and Diaz was an integral part of this success and as such, the duo are once again the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade Boys’ Volleyball Co-Coaches of the Year.
Diaz, a coaching veteran who played at Southwest and established a program in the early 2000s that has gone on to win a Dade-best three state titles, which is tied for the most in the state with Orlando Bishop Moore. Perez has become one of the best young coaches in the county over the past couple of years at Southwest.
This was evident in the Eagles’ rematch with Miami High in the state semifinals where Southwest beat the Stingarees in three sets nearly a month after losing to them in the GMAC final.
“Coach Joshua (Perez) made some adjustments to the lineup and we did some stuff defensively,” Diaz said after that match. “We scouted them well (in the quarterfinals) and watched video on our last match. I think we knew what they were going to do, and I think they were a little surprised that we figured them out a little bit.”
This year’s state runner-up finish was the Eagles’ fifth all-time, adding to their state-record eight appearances in the state finals.
Southwest rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth set against Winter Park and had the Wildcats on match point at 14-12 before they scored four consecutive points to leave the Eagles lamenting what could have been.
But for the Eagles, getting this far was worth recognition this season.
Southwest relied heavily on two-time Miami Herald Player of the Year Juanmarco Diaz and its two other upperclassmen, Andrew Ovalle and Marlon Albornoz to lead a team that had eight players who had either never played varsity ball before this season or never competed in a postseason match.
The Eagles struggled early, but won nine consecutive matches heading into the state final and finished with a 24-8 record.
