Full circle: Emma Wood returns to the Matanzas volleyball court as JV coach

The former two-sport star for the Pirates is back at her old school.

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Emma Wood is back home. The former Embry-Riddle softball star has returned to Matanzas High School, where she set so many athletic records and led her teams to scores of victories.

She’s coaching volleyball, her No. 2 sport, and having a ball doing it.

“I am home,” she said. “It’s totally full circle.”

Wood and her former high school softball and volleyball teammate, Chloe Baker, are coaching the Pirates’ JV team. Wood, the JV head coach, is also working full-time at Matanzas as the testing secretary. She is working with Assessments Coordinator Ashley Forrest, her assistant softball coach at Matanzas.   Wood’s sister, Jordan Palmese, also works at Matanzas as a career readiness teacher.

Wood said she interviewed for the full-time position, which fits her degree in aviation business supply chain. Maybe not the aviation side, but the business side falls right in, she said. She helps coordinate testing dates, supplies, proctors and classrooms.

“It’s a bunch of data, and I’m no stranger to spreadsheets and data analytics,” she said.

The volleyball position just fell in her lap, she said. Athletic director Zach Rigney asked her if she would be interested, so she applied.


I always said, I would love to play volleyball in college, but obviously, softball was just my life, so I never really got away from it. I have so much love for the game, so it’s just exciting.
— EMMA WOOD

“I always said, I would love to play volleyball in college, but obviously, softball was just my life, so I never really got away from it,” she said. “I have so much love for the game, so it’s just exciting.”

Wood finished her softball career at Embry-Riddle as the school’s all-time leader in doubles with 42. She made all-conference teams three years in a row. And she was an All-American Scholar Athlete. At Matanzas, Emma Wood had a .487 career batting average and a 30-18 record as a pitcher with a 2.49 earned run average and 321 strikeouts in 298 innings pitched.

In volleyball, she had 428 kills, including 289 with a 38.9 kill percentage her senior season.

Sometimes, her JV players will come out to the gym lobby and see her picture on the wall and come back to the gym all excited, she said. Sometimes, she and Baker will join in on a drill, like when they’re playing Queen of the Court. The players are blown away by their coaches’ skill level.

“We tell them, this is what you’re aiming for,” Wood said.

But just as her players are impressed by her talent, so is Wood by her players’ talent.

“I keep telling everyone that this is probably the most talented group of JV girls that (Matanzas has had),” Wood said. “They're special. This is a good group of girls, and they bring it.”

Matanzas head varsity coach Sharell Arnead said Wood and Baker are a good combination. The fact that they both played college softball (Baker played at Southeastern University) and understand what it takes to get to the next level, make them great role models for the players, Arneaud said.

“Since I did play, it helps a lot because I was in their shoes and I understand there's going to be hard days, and there's going to be easy days,” Wood said. “I'm really happy that I'm coaching with Chloe Baker, because she gets all of that too. So, it’s all falling into place.”

Wood said she is not sure if she will help coach softball too. Coaching two sports may be too much for her first year on the job, she said. But she said she’ll leave that decision for later. Right now she is excited for the start of volleyball season.

“We’re having a good time and everything's coming together. We’re excited for game day,” she said.

The Pirates JV and varsity teams each traveled to Mainland for their season openers on Aug. 19. Both Matanzas teams won in straight sets.

 

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