- December 4, 2025
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Entering its fifth season in existence, the Horizon High girls volleyball program has established itself as one of the top teams in West Orange and Southwest Orange, amassing an overall record of 67-24, never having a losing season and claiming two district titles.
The Lady Hawks also reached the regional playoffs in each of its first three seasons and, despite finishing the 2024 season with a 14-4 record and claiming the Metro West Conference championship, that streak came to an end last year after losing in the Class 6A, District 4 championship match to Lake Minneola High and not receiving an at-large bid.
“It isn’t anybody’s fault, necessarily, that we didn’t make the regional playoffs last season,” Horizon coach Ernest Rittenhouse said. “We were ranked 13th in a state regional field of 32 and didn’t get in. It’s not intended to be that way, and it was definitely unusual, but to be frank, if you looked at the pure math of it, we got left out because we only played 18 games. If we had played the four other matches that were scheduled but got canceled due to a hurricane, we would have been in.”
Regardless, missing the regional playoffs is not something the Hawks want happening again, and they’re going more than 2,000 miles out of their way to make sure their senior-heavy squad has every opportunity to reclaim its place at regionals.
“The regional selection thing was a bit of a disappointment, because it just wasn’t as intended,” Rittenhouse said. “But it’s no hard feelings. I understand how it happened. We needed to have those four matches on our schedule. It’s part of the reason why we’re flying off to Las Vegas this month to play in a tournament and get seven guaranteed matches early in the year.”
With all but two graduates returning from last season’s team and the motivation that comes from being left out of the regional playoffs, Horizon has all the ingredients needed to soar to new heights in 2025, and it starts with its group of eight seniors.
“In my 29 years of doing this, one thing I’ve learned is this: Seniors have a different mindset,” Rittenhouse said. “I’ve seen plenty of teams that were great but young, and when you have a group of seniors like we do this year, they just bring a different kind of mentality to the team. (They bring this) there’s no next year, we have to make everything happen this year sense of urgency that’s hard to replicate. You don’t necessarily get that with younger teams, no matter how competitive they are and how much they want to go out there and win as much as anybody. There’s just something about having this many seniors that adds the ‘We have to get it done this year’ mentality that makes groups like this one special.”
This set of seniors is led by outside hitter Kiera Vazquez, the team’s top returning offensive weapon with 171 kills and 49 aces, middle hitter Evelyn Slattery, Horizon’s leading blocker with 25 total blocks in 2024, and playmakers Maria Rodriguez, Sarah Cintas and Stefany Ortiz, who combined for 558 assists last season.
“I’m excited for this year,” Vazquez said. “We have eight seniors and are returning most of our players from what was a pretty good team last year. We have developed really good chemistry, and because of our success last year and growth in the offseason, I’m expecting us to do even better this year.”
As Vazquez notes, the chemistry this team has from playing together for the past few years is one of the biggest reasons for the Lady Hawks’ optimistic outlook for the season.
“I definitely think the bond we’ve developed has made us grow stronger as a team; we’re like a family in a lot of ways,” Rodriguez said. “A big part of this team is the support that we have with (one another), how much we lean on (one another) and how we always have (one another’s backs). If anyone makes a mistake, we’re always right there to try and build their confidence back up. … I feel like that’s why we’ve all grown together and become so comfortable around one another. That’s also a big reason why we’ve all learned how to play together. Because of that and how much we all really want to win, the way last season ended is fueling us. There’s a fire underneath us that’s pushing into this season.”
Beyond the senior leadership for the Lady Hawks, according to Rittenhouse, the overall depth of this team will be the catalyst for the success it might have in 2025.
“Looking at last year — not to make any excuses — in a couple of key matches we lost, including our district championship game, we didn’t have our starting setter, the girl who is now our senior captain, out there with us because of a shoulder injury,” Rittenhouse said. “I’m not saying that we lost because of that. I’m saying this to point out how important having a deep roster is. When you have depth, you’re able to handle scenarios that might come up like that, but not every team has that luxury. This team, having only graduated two seniors and having a lot of good young players on varsity — and there’s players on our JV team (who) would normally be on a varsity team — has a lot of depth. Enough to weather some storms, both real storms or analogy-type storms, that come our way. Obviously, we hope nothing happens, but if something were to happen, we’ll be fine … because the next player up is pretty good.”
Not only does the depth of this team allow it to deal with the rigors that come with a long season, but it also creates a difficult scenario for opposing teams. Along with the development of its senior leaders, opponents also will have to deal with the return of Horizon’s key outside hitter Elena White, a sophomore who recorded 156 kills and 126 digs last season, and the promotion of a few talented youngsters from its JV team.
“It’s not super obvious to people, because the improvement has been gradual, but this group bit-by-bit-by-bit has gotten more consistent, more focused, better, and as it builds up in the end, it’s become a fun and exciting group,” Rittenhouse said. “One of the biggest reasons for that, too, is the fact that we have so many good players and we’re not relying on any one or two superstars. Having a setter like Stefany, who is able to just feel the game and find the hot hand, and if everybody’s doing well, she’ll just keep distributing it all over, makes it really hard to stop. Teams can get ready to slow down one or two good players. But with this team, you have to get ready for the whole team, because you’re not sure who’s going to spark up that night. It’s hard to stop.”
Horizon will begin its 2025 regular season campaign Tuesday, Aug. 19, at home against Eustis High, before making the trip west for the 48-team Vegas Classic tournament from Aug. 22 to 23.
