2021 SUN Preps All-Area Athletes & Teams
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Page 22 www.yoursun.com SUN PREPS ALL-AREA VOLLEYBALL TEAM By PATRICK OBLEY SPORTS WRITER T hrow out the records when talking about area volleyball this season. Really. Port Charlotte had the worst record of the area teams this season but went deeper in the playoffs than anyone. Venice posted the same 17-13 mark as it did in 2019 but left zero doubt it has a team that should be considered one of the favorites to compete for a 2021 state title. What gives? The schedules. Port Charlotte and Venice played bruising slates this season, going toe-to-toe with the state's best virtually every night out. In the case of the Pirates, it paid off in the form of an incredible five-set win at previously unbeaten Barron Collier in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Venice will boast a raft of returning talent which took notes during a wrenching, five-set loss to Fort Myers at season's end. DeSoto County welcomed back Dave Bremer, who guided the Bulldogs to a 12-10 mark and a playoff appearance. Charlotte put together a 14-13 cam- paign and could have gone deeper in the playoffs had it not been forced by circumstance to play Venice for a district title and Fort Myers in the first round of regionals. Lemon Bay's incredibly young roster checked in at 7-10 this season, but the Mantas' potential was on display each night, proving they will be a team to watch in 2021. The exact same thing can be said for North Port, almost word-for- word — the Bobcats also went 7-10 while playing just one senior, so Chassity Taylor's crew also will be on the rise. Last, but definitely not least, it was another remarkable season at Imagine School, where the Sharks chomped their way through the season in dominant fashion, going 18-3 with wins against Charlotte (three times), Lemon Bay (three times), DeSoto County (twice) and North Port (twice). From this, we ascertained a trio of in- credible finalists for The Sun Volleyball Player of the Year — Port Charlotte's Azyah Dailey, Charlotte's Ashleigh Miller and Venice's Paden Keller. The Coach of the Year, for the second consecutive season, is Port Charlotte's Christine Burkhart. First team Paden Keller (Venice junior) Keller jumped from the freshman team straight to varsity for her soph- omore season, then took those hard- knocks lessons to heart during a stellar junior year. She was often at her best in Venice's most important matches. Indicative of her penchant for spot- light play was her performance over four matches in Venice's Battle of the Beach. She amassed 73 kills during the event, giving her 85 in a week's time. Keller plays well beyond her 5-10 height and coach Brian Wheatley ex- pects Keller to team with fellow juniors Ireland Ferguson and Kiki Montgomery in 2021 to lead Venice back to the state title match. "She's extremely quick. Just so fast," he said. "She's very good in front of the setter, behind the setter, she can move the other team's blockers around extremely well. She's only 5-10 but she is a dominant, dominant middle. "I think we are going to have an awesome team next year with some very high goals." Ashleigh Miller (Charlotte senior) The Tarpons' three-sport athlete walked off the volleyball court and straight into the weight room where she promptly finished second in her division during the Charlotte Tarpon Invite. This is how she rolls. She leaves her prep volleyball career behind after recording 481 kills, 329 blocks and 87 aces. She delivered 125 of her blocks this season, good for second all-time on the school's single-season and career block list. She'll take her talents to Ada, Oklahoma, where she will play for East Central University next season. "Her versatility on the court is a big thing," Charlotte coach Michelle Dill Venice, Port Charlotte lead way on squad SUN PHOTO BY JUSTIN FENNELL Port Charlotte's Azyah Dailey gets a point past Venice defenders when the two teams met earlier this season. Player of the year Azyah Dailey (Port Charlotte senior) Only when speaking in terms of volleyball can one say this and not involve the authorities: Azyah Dailey was a killing machine in 2020. The Port Charlotte senior more than earned her scholarship to Clemson during the course of a season in which she recorded a whopping 443 kills. That was the second-most in all of Florida. She also had 216 career blocks in earning a spot on the AVCA All-America Watch List. Not bad for someone who took up the sport just prior to her high school years. "There are a lot of kids that have peaked before they get into school and that's not going to be Azyah," Pirates coach Christine Burkhart said during Dailey's signing day. "She's just now getting started and coming into her own in the game." DAILEY SEE VOLLEYBALL, 23