NSR Female AOD: Sarah McAniff, All-State volleyball outside hitter, from Joel Barlow High, Connecticut

Our Female Athlete of the Day is a 5’8” volleyball outside hitter with a 3.1 GPA.  She is Sarah McAniff, a senior and four-year varsity letter winner from Joel Barlow High School in Redding, Connecticut.  Sarah’s academic interests lie in business administration.  Last week Sarah was named the MVP of the Southwest Conference Championship Tournament, leading her team during the season and in the tournament to a perfect record of 24-0.  More impressive is the fact that her team did not lose any games, posting an incredible 72-0 record.  Sarah lead her team in a variety of offensive and defensive categories including service points (176), kills (266) and digs (152).  Additional 2012 honors for Sarah include being named to the SWC All-Conference and SWC All-Tournament teams.  While other post-season awards have yet to be given out, Sarah will be adding to her 2011 Connecticut First-team All-State selection.  This winter Sarah will once again start on Joel Barlow’s basketball team and later this spring she will be the softball team’s shortstop.  According to Steve Antal, the Barlow head volleyball coach, “Sarah McAniff is one of the finest volleyball players I have had the pleasure of coaching.  Her determination, positive work ethic, and composure have led to our team’s success the past few seasons.  She does an exceptional job of balancing the demands of academics and athletics.  Sarah McAniff gives real meaning to the term student-athlete. Sarah is a self–motivated student who strives to do her best in the classroom. As an athlete who plays three sports at a very high level it is clear she has been able to handle the rigors that come from balancing success in the classroom, as well as, success in sports. Sarah is committed to everything she does, and she sees the direct correlation of hard work put in equals positive results. Sarah is the epitome of a natural leader. Her level of energy, enthusiasm, and effort are contagious and she often inspires her teammates to bring their level of energy and effort up along with hers. Sarah’s strengths as a leader also enable her, as a junior, to see when one of her teammates needs some encouragement and she does this on her own unprompted by her coaches. So much of the success of the Joel Barlow volleyball, basketball, and softball teams is directly related to the contributions of Sarah McAniff.”  Sarah is nothing if selfless, putting her team ahead of herself as she states, “I can always adapt to different positions if needed to help my team be successful.  I love the competitiveness, the intensity and the team atmosphere.  I will take my dedication toward volleyball to new heights as I will strive to improve all my skills while learning new ones, which hopefully will make me successful at the college level.  Every time I step out onto the volleyball court I give it my all, work my hardest and keep improving every time. I always encourage my teammates to work just as hard as I do in order to make volleyball an enjoyable and fun experience for all. I want to feel the intensity, competiveness and fun team aspect which hopefully shows you that I am capable enough to step into the college level and contribute to your team.”  Sarah’s NSR scout is Cary Nadel.