Olympian Sarah Sponcil inspires high school volleyball players in visit to Phoenix alma mater
Olympian Sarah Sponcil, who competed in beach volleyball at the 2020 Tokyo games, returned to her high school alma mater in Phoenix Tuesday to help inspire the school's girls' volleyball players.
Sponcil graduated from Veritas Preparatory Academy in east Phoenix in 2014 after starring on the girls' volleyball team. She initially pursued her collegiate career in volleyball at Loyola Marymount University before transferring to UCLA in 2016. She later joined the AVP professional beach volleyball tour in 2018.
She partnered with Kelly Claes in the Tokyo Olympics, which were delayed until 2021 because of the global pandemic, tying for 9th. Sponcil, then 24, and Claes, who was 25, were the youngest beach volleyball team to represent the United States since beach volleyball became an Olympic sport in 1996.
Sponcil met Tuesday with the freshmen, JV and varsity girls volleyball teams at Veritas Prep prior to matches against Scottsale Prep.
"Whenever I'm back in town, I like to come back to my roots. Veritas holds a special place in my heart," said Sponcil. "A lot of my volleyball adventures started here. It's always nice to come back."
The Girl's Volleyball team competes in the AIA 2A division, and has won five state championships in different conferences since 2008. The school won the 1A championship in 2011 with Sponcil a member of the team and her father, Wayne, as head coach. Her older sister Becca as on the team as a senior. Sarah was named Arizona's Gatorade Girls Volleyball Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013.
On Tuesday, players were starstruck as they questioned Sponcil about the work she put in to get to where she is.
"Sarah Sponcil is probably the one person I look up to, especially at this school, I strive to be her," said senior Jaz Cobb. "She definitely motivated me before the game to play my best and have a better mindset."
Sponcil let the girls know the importance of bringing a competitive attitude into a match.
"To be a bad bleep on the court. It's an intimidating thing to have females dominate in a sport," said senior Alyssa Jenkins. "I think that it's a very important thing for the women at Veritas to understand, we can also be smart, but we can also kick some butt as well."
Sponcil recently announced her return to indoor volleyball, as she will move to Michigan to play on the Grand Rapids Rise in the Pro Volleyball Federation, or the PVF.
The new league is set to start early next year, with more than eight teams expected, each with 14 players to start in a 24-game season in February 2024.
On Tuesday, the Veritas varsity team swept Scottsdale Prep 3-0 in its match to improve to 7-6 on the season. Scottsdale Prep is 9-3.
The players were happy about the outcome, but still had Sponcil's visit top of mind.
"It was just the coolest thing ever to meet her, she's amazing," said junior McKenzie Perrault. "She gave us advice on confidence and having self-talk. Even when you make a mistake, you got to tell yourself you got it next time. And that's what I went into the game with when I made a mistake."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Olympian Sarah Sponcil inspires volleyball players in visit to Phoenix alma mater veritas prep
