It may seem difficult to imagine at first, what with a Pac-12 title, an NCAA Championship and an AVP final under her belt in the span of just a few weeks, but yes, Sarah Sponcil does struggle from time to time.
Take Spanish, for example.
“I have not taken it since I was in fifth grade,” she said. “A lot of people take Spanish in high school, so it was elementary Spanish and I was like ‘Ok, we’re chillin with the colors and the weather and all that stuff’ and the lady is like ‘Ok so the next class we’re going to be speaking in full Spanish. And I was like ‘Wait, what? What did I sign up for? Is there a level below this?’ So that’s been kind of a struggle.”
But on the court? It may take some digging to find a soft spot in Sponcil’s game. Partnered with Lauren Fendrick in Austin of 2018, Sponcil won her first four career AVP main draw matches in straight sets, setting up a final against April Ross and Alix Klineman.
“I think I just had that mentality – people are going to be stronger, faster,” Sponcil said. “I think I just tried to put the pressure on, trying to stay aggressive. I think a lot of people go to shots if they get blocked, they kind of just do that. I felt like I was full force. I just want to swing, if I get blocked, I’ll just work around.”
She worked around Angela Bensend and Olaya Pazo, Caitlin Ledoux and Kendra VanZwieten, Janelle Allen and Kerri Schuh, Karissa Cook and Katie Spieler.
It was one thing to play alongside an Olympian and Stanford’s assistant coach. It was an entirely different feeling to play against Ross, the player Sponcil has looked up to since she began playing volleyball.
“I mean, you’re playing against April Ross,” Sponcil said. “I literally had pictures of her when I was like, 14 and 17. Just to be playing against her and seeing me stack up against her was really cool. It was a really great experience.”
She watched the film a few times, enough to know that she stacked up just fine. Ross and Klineman had only dropped a single set prior to the finals, yet there was Sponcil, pushing the two-time Olympic medalist to a 24-22 first set, and again to a 25-23 second set.
“We basically played a third game,” Sponcil said, laughing. “I felt like I was taking it point by point. I don’t know. I thought it was an amazing challenge. You look up to someone for so long and you don’t want to miss this opportunity. You want to show them like ‘Ok, I deserve to be here. It wasn’t a fluke that we were here.’
“Right after we lost, as long as we gave them a run for their money, that was ok with me. Just to be that close and within striking distance gives me hope and just makes you want to play that much more and get that much better so you have the opportunity to face off with them again.”
She has.
After being named the 2018 AVP Rookie of the Year, Sponcil teamed up with Kelly Claes to make a run at the Tokyo Olympics. In their two year partnership thus far, they’ve made two AVP finals and another four semifinals. They’ve won four medals on the FIVB and are firmly in the thick of the Olympic race, the seventh-ranked team in the world and third in the United States’ race to Tokyo.
