After winning just three matches last season, the American Heritage girls’ volleyball team has flourished under first-year coach Kevin Skeens.
The Stallions (7-5) have already doubled last year’s win total as they opened the season at 7-3 with two wins over Dreyfoos School of the Arts, and single victories over Palm Beach Central, Somerset Canyons, Seminole Ridge and Olympic Heights.
“Coming into the season I was expecting to first and foremost rebuild the culture,” said Skeens, who moved to Florida from Colorado two years ago. “They were a team that only won three games all of last season.
“We decided to trademark our desire to change the culture as the Stampede Mentality,” said Skeens, who is a longtime coach and volleyball club owner from Colorado. He also coached high school volleyball at Holy Family High School in Colorado. “We have shirts and have spent a lot of time talking about what it means to be a stampede, which is everyone together, moving in the same direction.”
The team graduated four seniors from last year’s team that went 3-17 last season after an 11-7 mark in 2021-22 when they fell to Coral Springs Charter in three straight games in the Class 4A regional quarterfinals.
The losses this season have come to perennial volleyball powers North Broward Prep, Calvary Christian Academy, Park Vista, Wellington and Oxbridge Academy.
“The girls are playing well above their level of skill,” Skeens said. “I attribute this to how hard they work, and how positive they are. My background is in sport, psychology and mental toughness so we spent a lot of time talking about the tools that it takes to be resilient and overcome adversity.”
The Stallions are led by seniors Olivia Torres (No. 1 in the district in aces and No. 3 in the district in kills); Mary Struik (top five in the district for kills); and Bailey Gill (top five for blocks and sixth for kills in the district).
“Our senior leadership is another key to our success,” Skeens said. “Time and time again when we get down, we have come back and even upset some really good teams.”
“We only have four returners, so pretty new team,” Skeens said. “One word to describe them would be resilient. We literally do mental toughness sessions 30 minutes each practice, so they know how to apply the tools of mental toughness; things I’m talking about are mistake management emotional control, focus factors and pressure redirection.”
Skeens said he is not surprised by the team’s quick start.
“Not really,” he said. “Due to the fact I’ve coached for over 30 years, I knew with the kind of attitude these girls have we could surprise a lot of people if we worked hard and also built their confidence and game acumen.”
