At school loaded with powerhouses, STA’s Palm building another in beach volleyball
For the past three years, Dave Palm has been at the head of the St. Thomas Aquinas beach volleyball program.
The sport was only played at the club level during his first two seasons before it became a sanctioned sport under the FHSAA this year.
And his Raiders found instant success, being the only team from Broward County to make it to the state tournament site in Tallahassee this season.
As such, Palm is the Miami Herald’s Broward Beach Volleyball Coach of the Year.
St. Thomas Aquinas went 14-3 this season, with all three of its defeats coming against fellow teams that were among the final 16 playing in the state series. Two losses came to Westminster Christian — a 4-1 loss in the regular season and a 3-1 season-ending loss in the Round of 16 — and the other was a 3-2 defeat by eventual state runner-up
Vero Beach.
Of Aquinas’ 14 wins, five were sweeps, six were 4-1 decisions and four were by 3-2 margins.
The biggest win was their final one, when they held off Cardinal Gibbons for a 3-2 win in the play-in round of the state series to punch their ticket to Tallahassee.
“We got the goal accomplished and pulled through at the end and stuck to our guns and strategy,” Palm said that day.
He hoped the win — and a rematch with Westminster Christian — would provide his team with
“that extra fire and the extra pizazz to do everything that needs to be done to win.”
They came up short, but the future is bright. Aquinas only had one senior — Alyssa McBean — and is anchored by a half-dozen sophomores who will carry the load next season.