Noami Santos-Lamb is healthy and ready to get going.
In two years at Florida, one of PrepVolleyball.com’s former Senior Aces has yet to show off her talent during the course of an entire season. She spent the majority of her freshman season on the bench, and a torn ACL ended her sophomore season prematurely.
After surgery and months of rehab, Santos-Lamb is back.
“Noami Santos-Lamb is really close to being completely cleared,” coach Mary Wise said. “She’s back on the court in a limited capacity, but she is back on the court in closed drills. She’s allowed to jump and hit.”
Now healthy, Santos-Lamb aims to follow in the footsteps of the players that kept her on the bench as a freshman. Santos-Lamb was one of three outside hitters on Florida’s roster in 2011. The other two were seniors Kristy Jaeckel and Stephanie Ferrell.
Jaeckel, an All-American, and Ferrell missed only three sets combined all season. The duo tallied 651 kills between them, leading Florida to a 27-6 record and an Elite Eight appearance. Santos-Lamb struggled to crack the lineup, recording 11 kills in only 20 sets during her freshman season.
Jaeckel, Ferrell and four other Gators left Florida following the 2011 season, opening the door for Santos-Lamb to become a fixture in the Gators’ lineup. Wise had the sophomore penciled in as one of Florida’s starting outside hitters after a promising offseason.
“You come in with the mindset of working hard and trying to earn the spot to start,” Santos-Lamb said August 16. “You just have to go out there and give it your all. You get out of it what you put into it.”
However, Santos-Lamb’s efforts to make a bigger impact as a sophomore fell through when she suffered an ACL tear in her left knee during an intra-squad scrimmage on August 18. Eight days before the Gators’ 2012 season opener, Santos-Lamb was relegated to the sidelines.
“[Santos-Lamb] had an awesome spring and stayed here the entire summer,” Wise said on August 27. “She was lighting it up and by far the best player on the court during that scrimmage.”
In Santos-Lamb’s absence, Ziva Recek emerged as a playmaker at outside hitter last season. She was named AVCA Freshman of the Year and Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year after leading Florida with 440 kills in 2012.
With Recek and Santos-Lamb both in the lineup, Wise is happy with what she has at outside hitter.
“Every indication is that come August, when we start August 10, that Noami will be back on the court, which is really good news,” Wise said.
Contact Joe Morgan at joemorgan@alligator.org.
Sophomore outside hitter Noami Santos-Lamb stands on the court prior to Florida’s 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-12) win against FIU on Aug. 24 in the O’Connell Center.
