Sunlake High School has never had a premier volleyball team. Before this season, they had never won more than six games in a single campaign, and compiled a 15-91 record across six seasons.
(Courtesy of Malika Saffore)
While they played hard, they’ve never seen much success, and have never had a player continue their volleyball career in college.
But a lot can change in a year.
The Seahawks finished the 2013 season with a 16-10 record, tallying more wins in one season than in their entire history combined. They made the playoffs for the first time in school history. And now, also for the first time, a volleyball player will continue their career at the college level.
Senior Malika Saffore will attend school and play volleyball for Florida Southern College, an NCAA Division II school located in Lakeland. She signed a letter of intent last week and said she’s excited about the opportunity to continue her athletic career.
“I’m so excited to play next season,” she said. “I was definitely honored that I was the first person to get a scholarship who was on the volleyball team.”
While most people have seen volleyball in some form, Saffore said her sport isn’t always understood as a complex one. Keeping the team motivated and working well together is just as important as hitting the ball hard.
“Volleyball is such a momentum-built sport. It depends on whether one team has more energy than the other, and I don’t think people realize that,” Saffore said.
A lot of the skill goes beyond physical ability, and includes thinking several moves ahead and utilizing what she calls “volleyball intellect.”
Saffore has no problem using her intellect both on and off the court. She’ll actually attend Florida Southern on scholarships — both athletic and academic. When coupled with a 3.8 GPA, her dedication to volleyball means most of her time is spent working on school or sports.
Saffore spends about 15 hours a week practicing on the court, plus another five hours in the gym staying in shape. After allotting time for studying and homework, free time is scarce, but she’s been able to find balance between the two priorities in her life.
In college, Saffore plans to study nursing, so her time will continue to be limited. But she said that the skills she’s learned on the court often translate to success in the classroom.
“I think it gives me a sense of self-control,” she said. “If I feel overwhelmed about the amount of homework I have or a test that’s coming up, I collect myself and think, OK, I have to prepare myself in these different aspects and I follow that plan just like I do with volleyball.”
Florida Southern was a good fit with Saffore for several reasons, she said. She said she was immediately impressed with the campus and her new teammates, but she also was attracted to the idea of staying local. She’s very close to her family and enjoys the Florida sunshine, so the opportunity to keep playing volleyball (including beach volleyball, which she enjoys) and stay close to home for a school she liked was too good to pass up.
And while she’s proven her abilities and has earned a scholarship thanks to her volleyball talent, Saffore knows that this is the beginning of competition, not the end. The Moccasins — Mocs for short — are a good volleyball team, posting a 22-14 record last year, including a 10-6 record in the competitive Sunshine State Conference.
She’ll have to continue proving herself to succeed at a school that’s used to playing at a high level against top talent, and she’s ready for that challenge.
“When you get to college, you have to actually compete for the position that you want to play,” Saffore said. “I know I have to work 10 times harder than I do now, and compete not only on the court against the team we’re going to play, but compete for a spot on the team to be on the court.”
Published April 23, 2014
