They were Broward’s top boys’ volleyball seniors. Next up: Playing at the Division I level
The Archbishop McCarthy boys’ volleyball team went into its match against Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas on March 12 knowing it was likely the last time they would see the court this season. Cardinal Gibbons did the same when it played Boca Raton’s Spanish River.
Both Broward County powerhouses hoped it wouldn’t be the end. They each once again had state title aspirations.
And each boasted a senior-heavy roster, with one senior in particular wanting one final moment at the prep level before joining a level of competition that South Florida boys volleyball players rarely join.
Archbishop McCarthy’s Omar Hoyos and Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons’ Michael Valenzi, both outside hitters, are heading to Division I programs next season. Hoyos is off to George Mason. Valenzi to Penn State.
How rare is it? The NCAA only has 23 Division I men’s volleyball programs, the majority of which are on the West Coast. Only 13 players on rosters for those 23 schools last year were from Florida. Only three called Miami-Dade or Broward home.
Hoyos and Valenzi are ready to add their names to that list.
‘He’s a package’
Hoyos’ presence on the court is immediately noticed. He looks the part at 6-7 and supports it with his athleticism. He’s a force at the net, evidenced by his 1,010 kills during his first three years at Southwest Ranches
Archbishop McCarthy.
But it’s his ability as a passer in the back row that helps him stay on the court for all six rotations and why he should be an asset early on at George Mason.
“He’s a phenomenal athlete, but I think a lot of it comes from the fact that he’s so humble,” Archbishop McCarthy coach Karen Frank said. “He’s obviously the go-to person. He is a package. He’s academically very good. He’s athletically incredible. He’s one of the kindest-hearted kids you’ll ever meet. He works hard. He’s picking the other kids up on the court. They have a lot of trust in him.“
That trust, and that success, helped him turn into a blue-chip recruit. Hoyos is the only player in Florida ranked among the top 50 prospects in this year’s recruiting cycle, according to Volleyball Magazine. He was also part of the MVP Academy and played for Puerto Rico’s junior national team.
He led Archbishop McCarthy to state series appearances each of the past three years, going as far as the state semifinals last season.
“He’s had a lot of weight on his shoulders because of the ability that he has,” Frank said, “but he always seems to be able to pull through no matter what.”
‘So steady’
Valenzi might not have Hoyos’ size — the Cardinal Gibbons outside hitter is only 6-2, five inches shorter than his McCarthy counterpart — but his talent level is just the same.
Valenzi has been a difference-maker since joining the Gibbons team as a sophomore in 2018, and was pivotal in their run to a state championship that year.
“He’s not the tallest guy out there,” Gibbons coach Mike Zarate said, “but he makes the most of his height.”
Look no further than the third set of their 2018 state championship match against annual contender Orlando Celebration. Gibbons trailed that set 23-22 and risked going down 2-1 for the match. Instead, Valenzi put up three consecutive points, including a set-clinching block, to give the Chiefs the lead. Gibbons clinched the state title one set later.
Valenzi has been a first-team All-Broward member each of the past two years, tallying 703 kills, 287 digs, 115 blocks and 47 service aces in those two seasons.
“Even when he was a sophomore on that 2018 state champion team, he was so steady,” Zarate said. “He’s definitely one of the most consistent players that I have ever had go through the program. That’s why he’s also able to play at the Division I level at his height. ... Very consistent. Has great ball control. Great leader. Clutch player. I knew he was going to turn into something even bigger by his senior year.”
Early ending
Unfortunately, that senior season never got a chance to take off. Cardinal Gibbons had played five regular-season games before schools shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Archbishop McCarthy had played four. Both were undefeated. Both were ranked in the top five in the state and the top 25 nationally by MaxPreps.
And both, like the rest of South Florida’s high school programs, held out hope that they would be able to play a shortened season, possibly scrapping the regular season and starting straight with district tournaments if they received an all-clear.
It didn’t happen.
Archbishop McCarthy’s six seniors, Cardinal Gibbons’ seven, and the hundreds more who played the sport at 75 schools in Miami-Dade and Broward saw their final season end less than two weeks before it started.
“It’s hard,” Frank said. “You don’t know what to tell them, but at the same time, they’re experience something that probably nobody else in their lifetime is going to experience. Everything’s a little different. I’ve always told them that everything that we do is a lesson. Hopefully, they’re taking some things away from this. It’s terrible. I feel bad for them. I do. But it’s what we have to do. “
And they still found ways to honor those seniors.
For Archbishop McCarthy, it was a drive-by. For about five and a half hours, they stopped by the seniors’ houses, one by one, “from Hialeah to Weston to east Davie.”
“We took them house to house,” Frank said. “When we got to the last house, the kids were lined up down the street outside of each of their cars.”
For Cardinal Gibbons, it was a pseudo-senior night in the Spanish River game that ultimately became their season finale. In the third set, Zarate only played his seven seniors, just in case it was the last game they played together.
“It was pretty rough,” Zarate said. “They all understand that safety is definitely No. 1 for everyone, not just us.”
Other notables
▪ Two other Archbishop McCarthy seniors will be playing volleyball at the collegiate level. Opposite hitter Austin Barberis is going to Division III Marymount. Middle blocker Raymond Lindo is going to either Limestone or King’s University, both Division II schools.
▪ Miami Palmetto hitters Leo Fernandez and Alvaro Grande will play at Bluefield College, an NAIA school.
▪ Miami Southwest, last year’s state runner-up, had two seniors on its roster this year: Elieser Gonzalez and Derrick Sosa.
▪ Other senior standouts during their high school careers include Monarch’s Alex Burgess, Miami Belen Jesuit’s Herman Suarez, Hialeah-Miami Lakes’ Kevin Mena, Hollywood South Broward’s Grayson Stoudt and Miami Ransom Everglades’ Will Drody.
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