Westminster’s Doan Kurenuma and Lourdes’ Penate are the Dade Volleyball Coaches of the Year
So sixth time was the charm.
The Westminster Christian girls’ volleyball team had come painfully close to winning a state championship for five consecutive seasons, losing in the state final each time.
Finally this season, the Warriors broke through for their first state championship since 2016 and third overall.
At the heart of those efforts was their coach Julie Doan Kurenuma.
Over at Lourdes, the Bobcats had similarly had trouble for years to break through to the state final four. That drought was no more thanks to a group led by coach Pedro Penate, who advanced to the state final in Class 5A.
As such, Doan Kurenuma and Penate are this year’s Miami Herald Miami-Dade Girls’ Volleyball Coaches of the Year.
Doan Kurenuma is the recipient for the Classes 4A-1A category after her squad upended Ocala Trinity Catholic in four sets to secure the Class 2A state title.
Penate takes home the honors in the Classes 7A-5A category after his squad made it to the state finals for the first time before falling against Tallahassee Chiles in straight sets.
Doan Kurenuma has set a standard of excellence at her program that few have in the state’s history.
Westminster Christian has advanced to the state final four 11 times during her coaching career and made the finals eight times. While the losses in the finals in recent years were undoubtedly frustrating, the Warriors have been a marvel of consistency that few programs statewide have been able to emulate.
This season, led by the Miami Herald 4A-1A Player of the Year duo of Gigi Artiles and Zoey Matias, the Warriors finished the job.
At Lourdes, Penate hopes his team is in the process of putting together a similar sustained run of success.
The Bobcats had made it to the regional finals in two consecutive seasons before losing to St. Thomas Aquinas. This season, led by 7A-5A Player of the Year Olivia Guzman as well as Ella Garcia and Jenna Acosta, Lourdes toppled Archbishop McCarthy on its home floor and advanced to the final four in Winter Haven where they followed that up with a state semifinal victory over Port Charlotte.
