Towering Gibbons and defensive-minded Southwest lead boys volleyball title contenders

Better than unbeaten?

The Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs boys’ volleyball team went 29-0 in 2018, winning the state title. This year’s team – with 6-foot-5 Penn State signee Caden Day leading the way – apparently has even more talent than that squad four years ago.

“I never thought I would say this,” Gibbons coach Mike Zarate said, “but this team is better than in 2018.”

That 2018 team was led by 6-2 outsider hitter Michael Valenzi, who now plays for Penn State; and 6-6 middle blocker JT Martin, who competes for Pepperdine.

Zarate thinks four of his current starters will eventually play Division I volleyball: Day, a senior outside hitter; Thiago Zamprogno, a 6-7 junior who has committed to UCLA; 6-8 senior David Decker, who is being recruited by Princeton and MIT; and junior Logan Keothavy, a 6-foot outside hitter who plays bigger than his size and is being courted by San Diego.

All four of those players have transferred in to Gibbons within the past two years: Day and Keothavy from Pompano, Zamprogno from Mourning High and Decker from North Carolina.

“They want to be a part of something big,” Zarate said. “They know we have churned out a lot of Division I athletes.”

All four have played for Zarate’s club team, Ocean Bay. In fact, Zamprogno and Keothavy play on Ocean Bay’s 17-under team, which is ranked ninth in the nation.

Zarate said Zamprogno gets way over the net, touching 11 feet, six inches.

“Thiago is the first Florida boys’ volleyball player to get a scholarship to UCLA, and he also visited Penn State and Ohio State,” Zarate said. “Logan is the most underrated outside hitter in the state. He has the fastest jump serve on our team, between 40 and 50 mph, and he is our best pin blocker.

“Cade has a big arm swing and good ball control. David puts up a massive block, and he has a wicked left arm. He’s going to get a lot of sets because it’s tough to stop a lefty like him.”

Gibbons also has 6-1 senior setter Gino Briglio, 5-9 senior libero Tristan Gaddy and 6-1 senior middle blocker Nick Meyl.

That group is so good that there’s no one in practice who can compete with them.

“In 2018, we had five young assistant coaches who could jump in and challenge our guys in practice,” Zarate said. “We don’t have that now, and our backups are all young.”

Zarate said he expects Flanagan to be his team’s biggest challenger in Broward, and Southwest, Miami High and Columbus are the potential road blocks in Miami-Dade.

The two-time reigning state champion is Orlando’s Freedom Patriots. There was no championship in 2020 due to COVID, but Freedom beat Southwest in three sets in 2019 and in five sets in 2021.

Southwest coach Alain Suarez said his players “ran out of gas” in 2021 due to the schedule, which had them on less rest than Freedom. At state volleyball, the semifinals and finals are played on the same day, and the Eagles wilted after winning the first two sets against Freedom.

This year, Southwest will have to play without 6-3 outside hitter Jack Hershman, who is now playing Division I volleyball at St. Francis.

“He was our best player and our leader,” Suarez said.

The new leader is Alessandro DeLaO, a 5-10 senior outside hitter. Alejandro Leon, a 5-7 junior libero, is another standout. Southwest’s tallest player is 6-2 junior middle blocker Carlos Gancedo.

“We don’t have a lot of size, but we never do,” Suarez said. “We hang with these bigger teams because our defense is top of the line. You can be really tall, but if you can’t pass you can’t win in volleyball.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ Miami High (26-3) returns a senior-heavy squad looking to make the first back-to-back appearances in program history. Outside/middle hitter Denzel Madrigal and setter/libero Gabriel Cabanzon are at the forefront of the Stings’ lineup.

▪ Belen (12-7), which lost in the district final, will be led by senior Gabriel Suarez, a 5-7 libero who has been on varsity since the eighth grade. Marcelo Morales, a 6-5 junior middle blocker, will make a mark. Robert Henao, a 6-3 junior setter, can also hit on the right side. Belen graduated just two starters from last year.

▪ Cypress Bay, which finished 17-4 and lost to Gibbons in the 2021 regional finals, is a team to watch because of the addition of 6-2 freshman Tyler Johnson, a budding star. He has played for USA’s Under-14 beach volleyball team. Cypress Bay also has 6-0 sophomore David Fuentes, a right-side hitter.

▪ Sunset (18-5) reached the regional finals last year, but the Knights graduated seven of their top nine players. The top returner is junior setter Angel Salas, the team captain.

▪ Archbishop McCarthy (9-12) lost in the district final last year. This year, with a new coaching duo – the husband and wife team of Andy Pai and Linda Gomez Pai -- the Mavericks return six players, and they added two transfers. The top player is sophomore outside hitter Luca Nunez. Pedro Jimenez, a junior middle blocker, and senior setter Leo Penazola are other standouts.

▪ Ransom (14-6) lost in the district finals. The team is led this year by 6-4 senior outside hitter DeVonte Payton, who signed to play with Fort Valley State University. Gabe Alencar, a 6-1 junior, is the setter, having switched from outside hittteer.

▪ TERRA (7-8, lost in district semifinals) could start five sophomores on a team to watch. The top player is 6-1 senior Alex Arazo. Sophomore outside hitter Christopher Rivero is another standout.

▪ Monsignor Pace (10-4) reached the district semifinals and then graduated a large senior class. This season, the Spartans will rebuild around senior libero Sergio Gonzalez.

This story was originally published February 28, 2022 at 10:24 AM.