It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2014 season of ―Lady Lake-hawks‖ Volleyball. Coach Belarmino has brought together a talented group of newcomers to join our returning veterans. We will have an exciting team that is fun to watch. Our program, under the guidance of long-time Athletic Di-rector Mike Matulia, has a proud history of developing young student -athletes to reach their potential and fielding teams that are competitive on the court or field.
What sets us apart, though, is our focus on helping our players excel in the areas of character, scholarship and service as well. As testimony to this commitment we can point to the numerous hon-ors from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) for achievement in the classroom. Our college was one of a select number of colleges to have all of its athletic teams named NJCAA Academic Team of the Year Finalists (GPA 3.0+). We had NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards, Chris Blan-ton, Taylor Douglass, Milica Golubovic, Sam Thomas and Breann VanderZyl and 23 others who received State Academic Honors as well. A special point of pride is Chris Blanton, a baseball player and most decorated Lakehawk in our history. Chris received the FCSAA Male Student-Athlete of the Year and then went on to become just the fourth Floridian to receive the NJCAA Lea Plarski Award in 2014! We congratulate the students, their coaches, fac-ulty and advisors for their outstanding performance.
LSSC provides a quality learning environment thanks to our talent-ed and dtalent-edicattalent-ed faculty and staff. We were once again selecttalent-ed as being in the Top Ten Percent of all Community Colleges in the nation and therefore invited to apply for the prestigious Aspen Prize. Our Learning Center was recognized as the National Learn-ing Center of the Year for its innovative and effective service to large numbers of our students. Over the past five years, two of our faculty have been named Professor of the Year by the Association of Florida Colleges.
Our students are well prepared for success after graduation wheth-er they pursue furthwheth-er education or entwheth-er their chosen carewheth-er. We appreciate the financial assistance of our sponsors and benefactors who help us make quality education and programs available for our students. Go Lady Lakehawks!
Beginning his eighteenth year as Ath-letic Director, Mr. Matulia anticipates another successful 2014-2015 athletic year for the entire Lake-Sumter State College Athletic program. The 2014 volleyball campaign, under head coach, Jennifer Belarmino should begin this season with anticipated excitement for the fans and new adventures for the players! This year, the Lakehawk vol-leyball program will be faced with new challenges within conference play, with the addition of Santa Fe College as a new volleyball program. The Lady Lakehawks will begin the fall season with many new faces and the challenge of replacing some of the 2013 sophomores, including All-Conference performer, Samantha Spring and NJCAA Superior Academic Excellence Award recipient, Milica Golubovic; also missing will be the leadership from Heidi Cote and Katrina Lathi. Coach Belarmino will look for leadership from the returning players that include: Emily Smith, Katie Wickery, Nyasia Dunlap, Madyson Maxwell, Ashton Furnas, and Kelsey Showalter. With a group of highly talented new players, including: transfer Carol Kiam-Assato, Coach Belarmino is optimistic that the Lakehawks will compete in the tough Mid-Florida Conference.
Coach Belarmino has worked hard to bring together her program, with valuable off-season conditioning and the recruitment of players that fit into her plan for a successful 2014 campaign. Coach Belarmino be-gins her second season, bringing a wealth of volleyball knowledge and a philosophy to lead the Lakehawk volleyball program to a successful future.
The Lakehawk Athletic program was again represented with a strong contingency of All-Academic performers during the 2013-2014 year. Graduating players, Milica Golubovic, Samantha Palmer, and Samantha Spring, were named to the FCSAA All-State Academic team, this past spring. Milica Golubovic, Samantha Palmer, Samantha Spring, Katrina Lathi, Madyson Maxwell, Kelsey Showalter, Emily Smith, and Katelyn Wickery, were all named to the Mid-Florida All-Academic Team. In addition to the success of the volleyball team, both on and off the court; the LSSC athletic program placed five stu-dent-athletes on the NJCAA Academic Awards team, twenty-three (23) members on the FCSAA All-Academic Team and a total of thirty -four (34) members on the Mid-Florida Conference All-Academic Team.
We welcome all the LSSC fans and supporters to another exciting year of Lakehawk Athletics and hope that the 2014 volleyball season will begin the success that should be enjoyed during this athletic year
