Miami Herald High School Athlete of the Week 30: Billy Essig of Belen Jesuit volleyball

Billy Essig of the Belen Jesuit boys’ volleyball team is the Miami Herald Athlete of the Week for Week 30.

The junior had a match-high 22 kills and a match-high 38 serve received along with 7 digs, 1 block and 1 ace as the region finalist Wolverines (21-6) beat Varela 26-24, 25-23, 16-25, 25-23 for the District 16-2A title. He also had 12 kills and 6 aces in a 25-17, 25-7, 25-9 district semifinal win over TERRA.

Other nominees were: Lorenzo Lopez, Miami Country Day tennis; Payton Seidle-Lubowitz, Doral Academy tennis; Samuel Rosales, Doral Academy tennis; Emmy Cerda, Palmer Trinity softball; Keygan Boyett, Cooper City weightlifting; Victor Rodriguez, Columbus weightlifting; Diego Requena, Reagan boys’ volleyball; Sasha & Leyla Kilgour, Riviera Prep tennis; and Samuel Eastaugh. St. Thomas Aquinas water polo.

To be considered for a nomination as a Broward or Miami-Dade high school varsity athlete, email hssports@miamiherald.com.

This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 12:49 PM.

Jim Varsallone

Miami Herald

305-376-3621

Jim Varsallone writes a high school sports column twice a week, featuring top performers in all varsity sports (boys and girls) in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. He also covers pro wrestling, something he’s done since his college days in the late 1980s. Now in his fifth decade of coverage, he currently follows WWE (Raw, SmackDown and NXT), AEW, Ring of Honor, TNA Impact Wrestling, MLW, WOW, NWA, and the South Florida indies, mainly CCW. He writes MMA, too -- mostly profile stories and video interviews with American Top Team and Sanford MMA fighters in South Florida. As for pro wrestling, he writes feature stories and profile pieces, updates upcoming show schedules in South Florida, photographs the action and interviews talent (audio and video) -- sharing the content here and via social media on his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel). Support my work with a digital subscription