Miami High volleyball star, Surfside collapse victim to return for ceremonial first serve

She wore her father’s old Miami Columbus High football practice jersey.

Miami High volleyball standout Deven Gonzalez, who lost her dad, 45-year-old Edgar Gonzalez, during the Surfside building collapse in the early morning hours of June 24, limped into the Stingarees gym on Tuesday.

Greeted by 11 teary-eyed teammates, Gonzalez — whose left leg was crushed when the 13-story Champlain Towers South building fell — soon put down her crutches and made her way to the service line, where she practiced her floater.

On Saturday, 16, Gonzalez will make her first return to game action — albeit in ceremonial fashion. A 5-foot-10 junior outside hitter, Gonzalez is set to launch the game’s first serve as Miami High plays host to TERRA at 7 p.m.

Gonzalez has seen only one match this season, and that was at Miami Beach on Sept. 2. With the emotions overflowing, Miami High rallied to win that match in four sets, making Gonzalez proud.

“Once I saw her, I got happy,” teammate Sydney Wilson said of Gonzalez. “I really like Deven. She’s really nice to me.”

Wilson fought back tears before the rest of the Stings embraced her and each other.

As she said those words during a break at Tuesday’s practice session, Wilson fought back tears before the rest of the Stings embraced her and each other.

“Had Deven not gotten hurt,” Miami High coach Nick Baumgarten said of his 13-2 team, “I believe we’d be 15-0.”

Everything, however, changed at about 1:25 a.m. on June 24. Deven and her parents, Edgar and Angela, were watching a movie that night in the master bedroom of their apartment on the ninth floor of the condominium. Deven had fallen asleep when Angela heard what sounded like thunder and felt like an earthquake.

The Gonzalez family fell five floors in the blink of an eye, landing on a pile of rubble estimated at about 40 feet high.

Firefighters successfully rescued three people from the rubble, and two of them were Angela and Deven.

Angela was in a coma for five days. She woke up on her birthday, only to find out her husband/best friend was gone.

“I’m doing a lot of physical therapy,” Angela said Tuesday as she watched practice from her wheelchair. “Every day, I’m able to walk a little bit further.”

Deven sustained a broken femur, and she lost a lot of blood. With her mother unconscious at the site of the collapse, Deven cried out for help until firefighters arrived.

A table found in the debris was used by the firefighters as a stretcher to get Angela down to safety.

The Gonzalez family, who are now renting a house in Miami Shores, lost all their belongings in the collapse — except for Edgar’s wedding ring, which was recovered from his body.

“I’m mourning the loss of my dad — that’s the biggest one,” Deven said. “But I’m also mourning the loss of my home because that was like my entire life.”

Deven also lost pets in the building collapse — one dog, one cat and some geckos. Miraculously, however, one of her cats — Binx — did survive and was reunited with the family several days later.

Beyond all that, Deven said she’s sad about what has become of her volleyball career, including some important mementos.

“I all lost all my volleyball medals I’ve been collecting since the sixth grade,” she said.

“The last part of my life that I lost was [the ability to play] volleyball. I didn’t lose it, but it feels like I did.”

Deven has been a Miami High starter since her freshman year.

She and Edgar connected as father and daughter but also as fellow athletes.

Edgar, who played linebacker at Columbus, earned his bachelor’s degree from Florida State and his master’s in finance from FIU. He then earned a law degree from St. Thomas University and became an attorney for the Hidalgo Firm, specializing in contracts and real estate.

Yet he somehow found a way to attend just about every Miami High volleyball practice and game.

“He was our stats man,” Baumgarten said of Edgar. “He broke down film. He was always at our practices, even though he was driving all the way from Surfside.”

Lisa Melenciano, who is perhaps Deven’s best friend on the team, said Edgar was a familiar presence at Miami High.

“He was a father figure,” Melenciano said. “He gave us advice. He cheered us all on, not just Deven.

“This year, we’re running on special fuel, wanting to win for Edgar as well as Angela and Deven.”

Already approved by doctors to do light drills, Deven appears on track to play volleyball again, perhaps for the 2022 AAU season in June. She wants to play college volleyball, and her possible majors include law, psychology and criminology.

But that’s a couple of years away. For now, all Deven wants is to get back on the court for more than just a ceremonial serve.

“It’s hard because this was supposed to be my year,” Deven said. “Your junior season is a big recruiting year. It’s when colleges are finally allowed to contact you.

“That’s the most disappointing part because I don’t even remember what it’s like to walk or run normally.”

Deven said volleyball has always been an outlet for her emotionally.

“If I had a bad day at school, it didn’t matter on the court,” she said. “Going through all this trauma and not having volleyball has made things even harder.”

This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 2:33 PM.