Westminster Christian volleyball continues unbeaten march to state with convincing win
Standards. Culture. Goals.
These are all words that often get thrown around casually in sports.
Not on the Miami Westminster Christian girls’ volleyball team.
While the Warriors’ powerhouse program wasn’t built recently as its two state championships and 11 state final four appearances - as of this week - will attest, they are putting together a season that is two wins away from being truly special.
The Warriors (26-0) made quick work of visiting Doral Divine Savior Academy on Tuesday night, defeating the Sharks 25-11, 25-17, 25-15 in the Region 4-3A final.
“It’s just the standards we have and we practice and train that way and the girls buy in,” Westminster Christian coach Julie Doan said. “It’s amazing, but we don’t ever talk about whether or not we’re going undefeated because we play the toughest competition. We go in to win every game but we don’t think about blemishing the record or that our season is over if we lose. These seniors have been there four times and they have goals.”
Westminster clinched its ninth trip to the state semifinals in the past 12 seasons and will host Orlando Lake Highland Prep on Friday night.
Divine Savior (25-5), one of the state’s best teams in its own right, stood little chance against a Warriors’ squad which entered the game ranked No. 8 nationally by USA Today and on the cusp of its first unbeaten season in school history.
But Westminster is focusing on ending a state title drought instead of perfection.
The Warriors have lost in the state final each of the last three seasons.
“After all these past few years coming up short, everyone from freshmen to seniors are focused because it’s our last run together and we want to make it count,” said senior Emily Matias, the Miami Herald’s reigning 4A-2A Player of the Year who has signed with Coastal Carolina to play both indoor and beach volleyball.
Gaby Arroyo led the Warriors with 13 kills while Alyssa Cadavid paced Westminster’s attack with 35 assists.
Matias finished with eight kills and Gigi Artilles, a 6-2 freshman middle hitter who is already drawing interest from Division-I schools, totaled seven kills. Matias’ sister, Zoey, also an All-Dade first team player last season, had six aces.
The Sharks were never able to sustain any momentum thanks to Westminster’s precise serving. Even after pulling within a point at 9-8 early in the third set, the Warriors answered with a 9-2 run and put the match away.
“(Coach) Julie does a really good job keeping us thinking the record is 0-0 every match,” Emily Matias said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re undefeated or not.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 7:23 PM.
