Nine months after the instant classic that was the 2024 season came to a close, Florida Tech volleyball is ready to wow the Clemente Center crowds with its latest release. Last fall featured many highlights that will live long in the memory of Panther fans: their first 20-win season since 2008, a season sweep of eventual national champion Lynn, a historic first-ever win against Tampa, and a first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
With all that success comes expectations, not just from within but from around the Sunshine State Conference and the nation as well. Can the Panthers match or surpass last year's tremendous heights? Can they be in the mix for the SSC title once again without the surprise factor they carried in 2024? If you ask Head Coach Jordan Willis, he's just fine with skeptics sticking around for an encore performance.
"I still feel like there might be some people out there with a little doubt, from the outside looking in, which I think adds an extra chip to our shoulder, a little more fuel to the fire," says Willis. "If people are going to underestimate us, like, 'Oh, it was just one year for them. They've got nine new players and five new starters, we've got pieces that are still here, along with players in waiting and incoming, who will turn some heads immediately."
As mentioned, the team will look a little different when the Crimson and Gray take the floor in Hickory, North Carolina, on Friday at the Lenoir-Rhyne Season Opening Invitational. 11 players from last year's team are a part of this year's lineup, joined by nine newcomers. The new additions are expected to replace the production of the likes of Irene Kitson, Tessa Mati, Lilian Muszynski, Antia Vallecas Rodriguez, and AVCA Honorable Mention All-American Chiara Patelli.
"Ayisha Missipo is going to be a dynamic player on the outside. Tremendous upside, pretty much a six-tool athlete, as far as a volleyball player, and she can get a lot of things done," says Willis. "Hadley Waldren brings experience in the middle. She was a fantastic player at the NAIA level, had one of the top hitting percentages in the country, and she's also played at Division II before with Northwest Missouri State, so she understands the competition. Elisa Broggio is our grad transfer from Italy. She brings us size and will help on the right side with Tessa and Irene graduating, so she'll bring a dynamic there. We can't forget about Isabelle Clark, a local product who was the all-everything pretty much at Holy Trinity. We expect her to come in and compete immediately as well. Natalie Rhodes, another local product, and Kellyanne Wiley are setters that are gonna push to compete with Kenzie Delacher and Kelly Merz. So those are some things we have to keep each other honest. That's why we practice and have preseason."
However, quite a few of the Panthers who helped produce hit after hit last season will be returning as well: Delacher, a setter who has started 83 of a possible 90 matches in three seasons; Courtney Capar, a defensive specialist who provides fearless defense and a consistent serve; Kari Voelstad Bogen, a two-time All-SSC libero and Cordelia Kearns, a 2024 AVCA First Team All-American outside hitter, who believes that the triumphs experienced last fall give the group proof and belief that what they were doing both in practices and in games is working.
"Last year, when we were put in those tough situations against Tampa and those kinds of games, we came together so closely as a team, that it was able to help us push past anything, because we knew we could rely on our teammates," says Kearns. "Coach Jordan has done such a good job of making a culture a huge thing, and that's now a huge focus for all of us. After last season, I realized how big it is to be a cohesive team, because that helps in everything that we do. I think this year will be a lot better with that as well, because we are bringing in freshmen and we're teaching them right off the bat, this is what our culture is, and this is how we're going to play."
In Capar's eyes, the biggest factor in the Crimson and Gray's rise was learning how to win and change the efforts that they could be proud of into ones they could boast about.
"We basically had the same exact team my sophomore year that we did last year that made it where we did. So much of the season before felt like we were at that level, we just couldn't finish games," says Capar. "Last year, we had this mentality that we are a capable team in this conference, and we can finish these games and be successful. I feel like there were so many games that went to five sets last year where that tipping point could have gone either way."
The Panthers will also benefit from the return of outside hitter Maria Jesus Munoz. The junior from San Fernando, Chile, who recorded 217 kills and 167 digs in 2023, had her 2024 end after five games due to injury and is expected to be available later in the year.
Capar sees her senior year as a chance to put a flourishing finish on what has been a remarkable story. Her class has tallied 42 wins during their three seasons in Melbourne, the best three-year stretch for the program in over a decade. It's everything that's happened since she first stepped foot on campus that has made these times worthwhile.
"Obviously want to have fun, but years from now, I want to be able to look back on the season and be like 'I played my hardest, I played my best, I tried everything I could do and be proud of what I did and my journey at Florida Tech," says Capar. "Because there's been so many hardships. We've had coaching changes, injuries, different players and everything, but through it all, I'm so proud of the point we are at right now. For me individually, I feel like so many new opportunities and doors have opened that wouldn't have happened if things didn't happen the way they did. I just want to be able to look back and be like, 'I just had the best senior year ever, and I wouldn't want to change a thing about it."
For Kearns, her drive isn't just about the individual will to win and excel that pushes every athlete; she's determined to make Florida Tech a program that opponents respect now and in the future.
"I feel like I just kind of have always wanted to prove a point, because everyone looked down on Florida Tech volleyball when we got here, everyone was like, 'Why'd you come here? Like, they're not a great program," says Kearns. "I was like, I'm gonna play my absolute hardest and do my best, because I want to prove that Florida Tech volleyball deserves respect, and we are a good team. I want everyone to know that, and so I think that's a big part of what I do is because I just want to earn as much respect as possible, because we deserve it."
The schedule will offer plenty of challenges as the 2025 slate features eight teams that made the NCAA Tournament, including five from the SSC. Last season saw Tech finish fourth in the conference, their highest since 2001.
The highlight of the non-conference schedule will be next weekend when they travel to Honolulu, Hawaii, for the Aloha State Showdown. That trip will see them face the likes of Central Washington and preseason #9 Chaminade. While these early-season tournaments do help to sharpen the team and build confidence, as they did last season, the team certainly won't let the opportunity to enjoy their surroundings pass them by. "I just want to go scuba diving!" says Kearns.
After the success of last season, the Panthers will look to continue building momentum when they open the season this Friday at 3:00pm against Mount Olive in North Carolina.
