This is the fourth article in Sporty Seniors, a bi-weekly column celebrating M-A senior athletes’ dedication to their sport.
Sarah Littlefield’s volleyball journey began when she was 12 years old. After hearing about her cousins’ positive volleyball experiences, Littlefield was eager to give the sport a try. “One of my first memories of playing volleyball was when I was on vacation,” Littlefield said.
“There was a beach volleyball court and I tried playing with my parents and it was really fun. So I was thinking, ‘Might as well try out for club,’” she said.
Littlefield joined the Academy Volleyball team in seventh grade. There, she received personal feedback from coaches, improved her skills, and met lifelong friends. “Playing club volleyball has been a great experience, and I’ve met so many of my closest friends through it,” Littlefield said.
In her freshman year, she tried out for the girls volleyball team and was one of five freshmen to make the varsity team. She played club volleyball with four of those five. “It’s been great to grow up with these people and just see each other improve throughout our high school experience,” she said.
“The other people on my team inspire me to keep pushing because when I see how much they want to win, it inspires me to also want to win. Just boosting each other up is really what keeps us going,” Littlefield said.
Now in her fourth year on varsity, Littlefield dedicates 15 hours a week to the sport through games, practices, and tournaments on weekends.
“I would say my biggest achievement was being able to play a different position in school volleyball than I did in club,” Littlefield said. In volleyball, switching to a new position at the high school level is highly unusual; however, Littlefield was a middle blocker for her club team and learned to play right side for the school team—a position she quickly grew to excel at.
“I’ve been very proud of the work that I put in to be able to learn a whole new side of the sport and be very successful at it,” she said.
Littlefield has decided to no longer play club because of the hefty time commitment. “When you’re on the court, you have to put everything else aside,” Littlefield said. “When you’re dealing with a stressful time, especially as a senior doing college apps, you have to leave that behind and go to practice every day for hours.”
This season, Littlefield is aiming to hit above a .300 hitting percentage—which accounts for kills, successful hits, and hitting mistakes. “As a freshman, I didn’t have as much playing time as I do now, so it was hard to achieve that goal. Now, I’m hitting that goal a lot more. I’m going to keep working towards that, bettering my skills, and working on my blocking,” she said.
In the team’s game against Burlingame, Littlefield’s hitting percentage reached .385, and versus San Mateo, it hit .500.
“Being a senior is crazy because now I’m in the position of being somebody people can look up to,” Littlefield said. “My advice to younger volleyball players is to find a position that you really like because that makes or breaks it. Find something you really enjoy, your role on the team, and people to play with that you really like because part of it is just the connection with your teammates.”
Littlefield isn’t planning to play volleyball for a college, however, she is interested in playing at the collegiate club level. “I love the sport and I’m going to miss it so much, I would definitely continue playing in college, just not as competitively,” she said.
