ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — With a school with only five years in the making, Windermere High School’s girls volleyball team has made school history by making the state finals for the first time. One of the reasons was the play of outside hitter Ana Bleeker.
What You Need To Know
- She signed letter of intent to play volleyball at the University of Georgia
- She shares what it's like being an undersized outside hitter
"We didn’t know how far this team would go this year," said Bleeker. "We knew that because of our team chemistry and how we fight for each other and the work we put in together, we were able to do whatever we wanted to do."
The road to the state finals was not an easy one for the wolverines, they had to go through a lot of tough competition. They beat four out of the top 11 ranked schools in class 7A just to make it to Fort Myers, where the state finals were held.
"We have a winner’s mentality, we go in not thinking this team is better than us, they have a higher ranking than us," said Bleeker. "No, we want this game it’s ours. We are going to fight for each other."
The senior outside hitter has been playing volleyball for the last nine years. On Nov. 19, Bleeker signed a national letter of intent to play collegiate volleyball at the University of Georgia.
"I love the overall atmosphere of the whole school and program," said Bleeker. "The coaches are amazing, team amazing and felt like a family there and I felt wanted and appreciated there and it was the right fit."
"It’s fun to watch Ana, you can tell there are a lot of outside hitters that are bigger than Ana, but she has a lot of skills," said first-year head coach Daniel Fuentes.
Despite an undersized outside hitter, she had learned different tools of the game.
"Placing the ball, not every ball has to be a power swing and focusing on my ball control, serve receive, my defense and developing those other skills makes me a successful outside hitter," said Bleeker.
Windermere High School would fall to Tampa's Plant High School in the state finals and ended its season with a 27-4 record.