Maitland Middle School’s boys and girls volleyball teams capture county championships

There’s only one thing better than a championship win — and that’s two championship wins at the same time.

Maitland Middle School made history last week when both its girls team and boys team captured the county championship in volleyball Wednesday, Dec. 12. 

The double victory marked the first time in Orange County Public Schools history the boys and girls teams at a middle school captured the county title in volleyball during the same year.

Both teams finished with an undefeated season, going 11-0 overall including 4-0 in the playoffs.

“To be able to pull it off with both of your teams … it’s tough,” Athletic Director and boys team head coach Kevin Neff said. “There’s a lot of schools that have not won one county championship ever.”

The victory for the girls is all the more sweet because of how close the team has come in recent years. The girls squad won the county title back in the 2010-11 season but also has finished as the county runner-up four times.

The girls defeated Bridgewater Middle in the championship game, toppling the team that frequently had ended their season.

“I knew our girls were going to be strong this year, because they were kind of rebuilding,” Neff said.

Meanwhile, the boys team became the first boys team since the 2007-08 season not only to go undefeated but also never lose a set through the entire season, Neff said. In the championship game, the boys defeated Lake Nona Middle School — another team that had gone the entire season without losing a set.

“This season was special from the beginning, and I kind of started a thing with the boys about making history, because it was the first time we had tryouts where the boys outnumbered the girls,” Neff said. “That’s actually never happened.”

The title marks the third championship the boys volleyball team has won under Neff.

What makes the two championships this year even more impressive is the number of teams competing in the county, Neff said. There’s about 40-plus schools in Orange County, and the top 18 teams make it into the playoffs.

“It’s not an easy feat — we faced some good teams, but we also faced some really good teams that we absolutely dominated and made them not look like a good team,” Neff said. “It goes to show that the skill level and talent on the team was really strong this year.”

When it comes to the boys and girls teams, Neff said he hopes at the end of the day that the young athletes are growing as people in their community.

“My goal is that they leave my program as a better person — as better leaders,” Neff said.