When Academy at the Lakes volleyball coach Brian Gonzales came to the school four years ago, he had never suffered a losing season coaching at any school or club level.
The Wildcats, on the other hand, never had much success on the court.
Something had to give.
Unfortunately, it was the coach’s winning streak.
“I don’t like having losing seasons,” Gonzales said, recalling the taste of defeat.
(Courtesy of Academy at the Lakes)
But that’s exactly what happened for the first few years of his tenure.
Still, he tends to take a longer view.
Gonzales knew he had a rebuilding project on his hands, so he put in younger players and let them grow into their roles.
Eighth-graders were facing high school seniors, and they lost matches.
Athletes who didn’t fully understand the game faced off against experienced teams with plenty of club-level experience, and they lost more matches.
But Gonzales knew that over time, the effort would yield good results.
In 2015, it’s paying off in a big way.
Academy at the Lakes won its first seven matches this season — without dropping a single set — and compiled a 16-3 record through September.
Now, the team is winding up its winning season (and best in school history) and will enter the 2A-8 district tournament later this month with the regionals in its sights.
The Wildcats are heavy favorites to reach the district final, which means the team would advance to the regional playoffs as either the top or second seed.
For Gonzales, it’s been a long road since those first matches with players who barely knew their roles on the court.
“I got here, and I was talking volleyball with my girls, and it’s like I was speaking Chinese to them. They didn’t have a clue what I was saying. So we had to go back to step one and build it from there,” he said.
Over time, his players learned both a passion for, and intelligence about, the game, and those characteristics are showing up in their play.
Seven of the team’s 10 girls now play club volleyball, meaning they’re immersed in the game nearly year-round. And with Gonzales’ aggressive style, they’re not afraid to take chances and make mistakes.
Gonzales wants them to be aggressive and to play with intensity, and to learn from their mistakes.
“I don’t dwell on mistakes,” Gonzales said. “An aggressive error, in my mind, is fine as long as they don’t keep making the same one over and over.”
Aside from Tampa Bay HEAT, a team comprised of home-schooled athletes, Academy at the Lakes has torn through their district opponents, often limiting them to less than 10 points in each set.
The HEAT has defeated the Wildcats and is the team’s main competition in the district right now.
Gonzales has gone out of his way to schedule challenging competition for the independent private school, such as matches against traditional public schools like Wesley Chapel High School and Pasco High School.
The academy won both of those matches.
The improvement is gaining attention.
When Gonzales first started, they might have 15 people in the stands for their games, and those were mostly parents. Now that the team is winning, word is getting around the academy, and students want to see them play. Their Sept. 24 match against the HEAT drew nearly 200 fans, Gonzales said.
Since nobody outside the HEAT in their district has captured a set against them, much less a match, a trip to the playoffs looks very probable. But this isn’t a one-year payoff for the coach’s hard work. He’s already building for the future in a way that makes future losing seasons seem unlikely. The core of his team are just sophomores, which means they’ll be even more experienced and seasoned players in the coming years. The school now has a junior varsity volleyball program as well, and many of those players also participate in club volleyball.
However things turn out this season (Gonzales sees the potential to make some noise in the regional tournament if they get there), he’s happy to see the program blossom from a struggling team to a successful group of motivated, talented players.
“They’re still young kids, but they don’t play like it,” Gonzales said. “They play like seasoned veteran players, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for.”
Wildcats’ remaining 2015 schedule
Oct. 8 vs. Brooks Debartolo Collegiate, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 13 at Gulf, 7 p.m.
Oct. 14 at Wesley Chapel, 7 p.m.
Oct. 19-23 2A-8 District Tournament
Published October 7, 2015
