Fort Myers volleyball is this week's winner of the Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.
Courtesy photo
It's been 23 years since the
Fort Myers (Fla.) girls volleyball team captured a state title.
It's not like the Green Wave, coached by Stephanie Martin, haven't been close or competitive. Fort Myers has piled up at least 23 wins every season since 2006 while compiling an impressive 202-35 record in that span.
After three wins in as many tries last week, the Green Wave is off to a 19-4 campaign in 2013.
For all their success, Fort Myers has been selected as the MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.
The Green Wave responded to a three-set loss to Evangelical Christian on Oct. 3 with wins over Estero (25-10, 25-15, 25-13), Riverdale (25-12, 15-14, 19-25, 25-22) and Ida Baker (25-8, 25-9, 25-13).
That brought Fort Myers' district record to a perfect 6-0.
"We have been training hard with conditioning all summer and season to be at peak performance during district play," said Martin. "It is always a team goal for us to win our district. We have a new district this year and had not played two of schools (Charlotte and Gulf Coast) in a few years. But we knew they have had strong programs."
The team has been led all season by setter
Amy Oxton, whose 674 assists rank fourth in the state.
"Amy Oxton has been working super hard in the off season with club volleyball, sand volleyball and of course during our season," said Martin. "She has stepped into a role as a junior to lead our offense. Her goal is to get our hitters in one-on-one situations whenever possible. She is quick and good on the run with her decisions."
The 5-8 junior has a number of weapons to set to including senior
Chelsea Oliver (202 kills) and juniors
Macy Jerger,
Briana Correa (151) and
Anna Cedarburg.
Cedarburg leads the team with 52 aces, Jerger is second with 47 and Correa has 39.
The team also plays superb defense led by junior
Alexis Athens (111 digs) and Correa (102). Oxton (88 digs),
Haley Galewski (83) and
Gillian Flanagan (80) also are effective defensive players.
The Green Wave close the regular season at
Venice and at home against
Bishop Verot (Fort Myers) this week.
"Our team word for the season is 'tenacity' — never give up," said Martin. "We know that we can learn from our losses and use those losses to gain a better understanding on how we can make changes and attain our ultimate goal to go far in playoffs and make the state tourney. We have been to the state final four the last four years and hope to make it back."
