Snowbarger becomes first General to reach 1,000 kills
Wooster High junior Sara Snowbarger, left, stands alongside her coach and mother Jen Snowbarger while being celebrated for reaching 1,000 kills in a recent match. The younger Snowbarger has committed to play collegiately at Indiana.
Sara Snowbarger came into her freshman season as one of the most highly touted players in the state.
Not a lot has changed for the current Wooster junior as she recently became one of the fastest local players to surpass the 1,000-kill mark for her career.
And if that number wasn’t impressive enough on its own, Snowbarger has done it by hitting the ball at above a 50% clip, along with leading the team in a handful of other statistical areas.
“Her freshman year she came in as a go-to hitter and now as a junior doing the same for us,” Generals coach Jen Snowbarger said of her daughter. “That is a great percentage for a coach and team to have a player that can win points at that rate for you. I have no doubt that her year-round training and work ethic has led her to this. This is not a milestone you just stumble upon.”
Already committed to Indiana University and just recently leading her Junior Olympics team this summer to a national championship, the 6-foot-1 outside hitter is one of the most proficient players around.
But it isn’t just the fact that Snowbarger has been the team leader in kills in each of her first two seasons or the fact that she also had been among the team leaders in digs and aces as she is a versatile player who plays all six rotations, but it’s also the fact she sets the tone.
No matter the situation, Snowbarger can change the energy on the team, whether it’s by a momentum-grabbing kill or just a word of encouragement to a teammate.
“I think Sara has been in many situations on the court that has helped her lead her Wooster team through some adversity,” coach Snowbarger said of the reigning Ohio Cardinal Conference Offensive Player of the Year. “I think on the court she leads by example, but many times she is helping that teammate beside her or pulling the team when needed.”
That leadership has been even more important this fall as the team — battling its way through one of the toughest schedules in the region — has found itself facing some challenging situations along the way.
The team has responded as it comes into the final full week of September with a 10-5 record, with some of those setbacks coming to the likes of Magnificat and undefeated Akron Hoban.
Snowbarger comes into the final stretch of the regular season averaging an area-best 6.3 kills per set, but she is far from alone.
Other upperclassman in middle hitters Grace Jones and Brooklyn Nolletti have paced the team defensively while junior Bri Hewitt has controlled things both at the service line and as the team’s setter.
“We made our schedule this year in our nonconference with some of the best in Ohio,” coach Snowbarger said. “I have been proud of our progress we are making in our competition verse them and also as we continue on in league play. We are getting better each week, and I love seeing that progression as a team.”
Sure, a handful of the names have changed from last season’s team that posted the program’s first undefeated regular season, but like any good team, it’s the idea of next person up.
It’s a culture that has allowed Wooster to win the last five straight OCC championships and could help this year’s squad find itself in another postseason run like the one that got them to the district championship a year ago.
“We want to win the OCC, but most importantly, we want to win a district championship,” coach Snowbarger said. “To get there, we have to stay focused and be prepared to play in big moments, but not just play, but perform. I think we are doing a good job of using our practice time and games to better us daily.”