“I am very excited to be going there,” Benitez said. “Everybody is happy. The coach is really happy for me. She said she will watch me play when she can. And I can watch the girls next year with nationals in the same place, so I can go to nationals to watch WNCC play.”
Benitez, who earned NJCAA first team All-America honors last week, will be following in the footsteps of another Cougar, Bianca Rivera, who just finished her eligibility at Creighton. Benitez said that Rivera will be there to help her make the transition to four-year volleyball.
“I am very excited to know that Bianca is there. She is excited, too,” Benitez, who won’t be able to officially sign with Creighton until next year, said. “She wanted me to go there. I will be with her one more year because she is going to stay there to study. So that will help me.”
Creighton is a perfect fit for Benitez, who was torn between the Bluejays or South Florida, which is just a 1 ½ away from her home in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“That is why I was thinking about South Florida because it is 1 ½ in an airplane. I have family there, too, so that is why it was making be confused. But, I think it is not only the place, it is the people, too,” Benitez said. “I was really nervous when I made my decision, but Coach Gi [WNCC coach Giovana Melo] helped me a lot. She talked to me about it because she knew I was confused of what I wanted to do in my life. I am going to miss everything right here. I know it will be hard when I leave with everybody and the coach. It will be hard to leave WNCC.”
Melo, who said Creighton is a perfect fit for her, told her to go someplace like here, where the team is like a family.
“I just told her to follow her heart,” Melo said. “She needed to go somewhere she felt comfortable and where she thought they would take good care of her like we did here. She is a person who needs that. She loves her family and needs to be at a family environment.
“I love when they do it [come to be for advice and help]. That is what I am here for. I have been through the same things so I am here to help them be successful.”
Benitez had a stellar two years at WNCC at the libero position, a position that was totally new to her after playing an outside hitter position in high school. But the 5-3 ½ sparkplug put together two years that saw her win a national title her freshman year, a third place finish this past year, and finish her career with 115 wins.
“The biggest memory for me was when we won the national title. It is a very good feeling which I will never forget,” Benitez said. “This year when we lost to Ft. Smith was a bad feeling, but the coach just talked to us and then we came back and we played Iowa Western and won. It was my last game at nationals and it will be one game that will be on my mind. That game was really exciting and we never gave up.”
Benitez finished this year at the school’s all-time leader in aces served, collecting 250 in her two years. She had 142 as a freshman and finished this season with 108. Rivera finished her career at WNCC with 188 aces.
Benitez also collected 1,110 career digs, including 539 this past season. She is just one of nine volleyball players in WNCC history to collect over 1,000 digs. Rivera finished with 1,425 digs when she played for WNCC in 2005 and 2006.
Benitez, who played in 301 games, also had 672 points
Melo said that Benitez was the quiet hero of the team with her speed and potent jump serving.
“Nayka was the speed of this team and she is extremely talented. She could cover the entire court by herself if I let her,” Melo said. “She is not a player who one would first notice as watching our matches, because she does not get any big kills or blocks which is normally what people like to see. However, the more you watched our team, the more you noticed her presence on the court. The more you see what a huge difference she makes.”
The fact that Benitez has been this successful at the libero position even has surprised the all-American libero a bit.
“I never played libero before I came here, I only played outside hitter,” she said. “Playing libero is a really hard position but I played it and all I know about being a libero, I learned from being here.”
And, she learned her volleyball talents from two of the top junior college coaches. As a freshman it was Chris Green, who recruited her and taught her the game. Then, when Green left for Alaska Anchorage, it was Melo who helped Benitez succeed on the court. Benitez said she wouldn’t trade her two years here for anything.
“Being here was a really good experience, especially with last year’s team winning nationals,” she said. “I was worried about the change in coach, but Coach Melo is a really nice person and she works hard with us. I couldn’t ask more from her. Coming here is a good way for me to reach what I want.”
No comments:
Post a Comment