Viera, the team’s setter this year, isn’t the only reason for the latest success, as hitters Robin Janney and Marie Gilbert, blockers Alicia Palm and Nia Frederick and libero Tori Keelean all had major roles the last two seasons.
But after Coach Eric Trowbridge moved Viera from the back row to the setter position this year, the team went 25-3 and rolled to the Class 4A District 6 championship, making it back-to-back titles for the Longhorns.
Viera, in an offense built around her strengths, tallied 775 assists (second in county to Osceola’s Megan Arago’s 817 in 2008), against just 13 errors and is the Osceola News-Gazette Volleyball Player of the Year.
“We switched to a 5-1 offense because of her ability to dominate on the front and back row,” Trowbridge said. “We can keep the game advanced because of her. Most schools don’t run our offense because they don’t have the setter to run it, along with the group of hitters we have, and most of them are coming back.”
Harmony only lost matches in the ultra-competitive “Dig Pink” tournament in Orlando and in the 4A regional semifinals to Ocala Vanguard, a loss tough on the whole team because the season ended 2009 to the same team in the same round.
“We wanted to go farther than last year, and we wanted to do it for the seniors,” Viera, who just turned 15, said. “We had some injuries but we played our hardest. Next year we’re sure we can get to the state tournament.”
Viera, who came to Osceola County from her native Puerto Rico five years ago, is a classic eat-drink-sleep volleyball wunderkind, and it comes from her family. Her mother and aunt both played in college, and her father and uncle played in the professional men’s league in Puerto Rico. She picked up the game at age 5.
“My mom was a setter, and I’ve never had a passion to be a hitter,” she said. “My dad’s been my coach all my life, but when he sees me play he won’t tell me anything about how I did until after the game.”
She earned a varsity spot with the Longhorns as a freshman, and Trowbridge worked her into the lineup, slowly adding to her responsibilities as the season progressed.
“When she came in as a freshman I knew her talent from her club team,” he said. “Her progression from last year to this year has been amazing, and that’s through her hard work. She has a lot of support at home and that helps, but you seldom get to work with a Division I player on a high school team.”
Viera said that in two years her court awareness and instincts have become her strength. She’s now working on becoming a better defensive player.
“I’m working on my defense now, you need to block on the front row, and I know I’ll have to play good defense to make it in college,” she said.
Despite a year-round playing schedule with the Orlando Volleyball Academy, she says she’s still looking forward to her junior season with the Longhorns.
“I’m still excited for the high school season because I feel like we’re getting closer to the goal, and we’ve become much closer as a team,” she said.
After high school, college is her next platform, and she’s already had informal contact with the Georgia Tech coaching staff, more for intended major of biochemistry than for volleyball.
After that, there’s the possibility of returning to Puerto Rico to play professionally. Bigger for her would be to qualify for the U.S. National Team.
“I know that I want to play as long as I can,” she said.

All-county volleyball

Player of the Year: Genesis Viera (Soph., HHS).
All-county team: St. Cloud: Annie Barberi (Sr.), Steffi Rodriguez (Sr.), Terryn O’Donnell (Jr.), Sarah Sullivan (Sr.). Harmony: Tori Keelean (Sr.), Robin Janney (Sr.), Marie Gilbert (Jr.), Alicia Palm (Jr.), Nia Frederick (Jr.). Gateway: Eloni Ellick (Sr.), Charnelle Michel (Jr.).
Celebration: Lexi Stephan (Soph.). Liberty: Roxanne Martinez (Sr.). Osceola: Colleen Arago (Jr.), Megan Hearn (Jr.).