Veritas Alumna Returns to Phoenix for Championships

Sarah Sponcil is a 2014 Great Hearts Veritas Preparatory Academy graduate who went on to play for the Bruins at UCLA, where she won the back-to-back Beach Volleyball National Championships in 2018 and 2019.  Now a professional beach volleyball player, Sponcil will be returning to Phoenix for The AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour at the Footprint Center on Friday, September 23 and Saturday, September 24 for the AVP’s first ever Phoenix Championships, a brand-new season-ending tournament that will crown the best men’s and women’s teams for the 2022 season.

Sponcil was named the Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013 while at Veritas Prep, which she led to three state championship titles plus a runner-up finish during her four years there. She has played in six championship matches in her 23 career AVP tournaments and secured her first AVP victory in July at the Hermosa Beach Open alongside partner Terese Cannon.  At the age of 24, Sponcil competed for the USA Volleyball Beach National Team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. She and partner Kelly Claes tied for 9th in their debut Olympics.

The Great Hearts Institute spoke to Sponcil for the Summer 2022 edition of VIRTUE, where she talked about her life ambitions.  “I want to always love playing beach volleyball. I would love to go to two or three more Olympic games, but I think that as long as I’m playing with a good partner, I’m loving the game, and I’m loving my coach, I’ll play as long as I can,” she said.  “I’m excited to branch out eventually: I’d love to write a book one day, I’d love to do a lot of different things, but right now I’m sticking with beach volleyball and seeing where that takes me.”

Sponcil has had a full and successful career so far and recognizes how Great Hearts gave her a strong start in her life.  “Veritas really prepared me for college in terms of time management.  High school was much more challenging than college,” she said.  “But it trained me to discipline myself and manage my time, and after that college was a breeze. I’m not very academic, so in high school I had to work extremely hard to get a C- or a B+. My parents even offered me to go to a different school, but I decided to stay at Veritas, and I’m very grateful I decided to stick it out.”

You can read more of the VIRTUE interview with Sponcil in its entirety here.  Please join us in watching Sarah Sponcil, among other fantastic athletes, take their talents downtown for the first time ever at the Footprint Center on September 23rd and 24th!

 Students/Families/Friends will receive a 20% off discount for general admission tickets using code FPC online at Ticketmaster.com
*Offer is only available online at Ticketmaster.com
*Offer is only available until Thursday, September 22 at 10:00pm

Get tickets here: 2022 AVP Phoenix Championships Tickets Sep 23, 2022 Phoenix, AZ | Ticketmaster

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