When three
Friendship has fueled Freedom boys volleyball to 27-0 mark
Freedom High School students decided to play boys volleyball together for their freshman season, they helped turn one of the weakest regional programs into a powerhouse.
When Gabe Benzari, Moises Garcia and Justin Alicea decided to play boys volleyball together for their freshman season, they tipped the scales of fortune for Freedom High School.
Coming into one of the weakest programs in Central Florida in 2014, the trio have been the leaders of a transformation that turned the Patriots into a Central Florida powerhouse.
Freedom won only three games in the season before Benzari, Garcia and Alicea arrived. They helped spark an improvement to 11 wins in 2014 and that was just the start of something special. The Patriots enjoyed consecutive 21-victory seasons in each of the past two years.
That set the table for the South Orange County program to become the No. 1-ranked boys volleyball team in Florida this spring. Freedom is 27-0 going into tonight’s state tournament play-in game at Dr. Phillips (19-6). The winner of the best three-of-five-games match advances to the state tournament, which will be played Friday and Saturday at Golden Gate High School in Naples.
Tonight’s other area play-in game is Lake Mary (22-4) at Winter Park (16-7). Both games start at 7 p.m.
“It's honestly one of the best feelings I have ever felt,” Benzari said of the success. “Building up this team was not easy at all, but through hard work and dedication we built a legacy here at Freedom and it feels great.”
Freedom, rated state No. 1 by maxpreps.com, won its first district tournament title last week
— a far cry from its futility before veteran coach Gina McFerren was talked out of retirement to lead the program and Benzari, Garcia and Alicea came aboard.
“These two have been some of my closest friends throughout high school so it means a lot to me that we have done this together,” Benzari said. “Our freshman year, practices were a joke. This year we come in every day ready to work. We all work hard because we all have one common goal, and that’s to win.”
McFerren, a former Oak Ridge girls volleyball and softball coach, returned to coaching after a 10-year hiatus.
“I agreed to do it for a year,” McFerren said. “But when the season was over, I decided to keep coaching. I found the boys game to be more challenging.”
McFerren, who has a volleyball career record of 437-165 in 21 seasons, also knew she had some winners with Benzari, Garcia and Alicea.
Benzari transitioned successfully from weakside to middle hitter this season.
Garcia is the libero defensive specialist anchoring the back row.
Alicea plays a dual role as a setter and hitter.
Freedom holds an impressive 69-12 record over three seasons with the trio leading the way.
“They were the building blocks the program has been built around,” McFerren said. “They came in with me four years ago and changed the culture.”
McFerren, who coached Oak Ridge to a 1991 softball championship, takes nothing for granted.
“Whether you are coaching an undefeated team or not, coaching today is challenging as to compared when I began in the 80s,” she said. “I have told the players and my coaches to enjoy the ride being undefeated. Seasons like this are few and far between.”
Among the moves she made this season was asking Benzari to switch to middle.
“At first, it was really rough for me,” he said. “I played right side in club for the past two years and also for our school the past two years, so when all the sudden had to up and change to a position that I didn’t really like at all, I wasn’t happy. But knowing it was what was best for the team, I’m glad I accepted it and did it because now I have so much more fun on the court with my team.”
Alicea said his transition from playing in a 5-1 offense to playing as a hitter with two setters has been special.
“I’ve never really had much practice as a hitter until my senior year,” he said, “There was never a point in my career prior that I needed to hit. I basically had to pick it up on the fly and I thank my coaches and teammates that gave me advice to try and get me better every game. It’s fun because I’m constantly learning.”
Freedom’s conquests this season include a victory over last season’s state champ, Archbishop McCarthy of Broward County, in a March tournament match.
“There have been a lot of firsts this year and hopefully we are not done yet,” McFerren said.