{"id":3659,"date":"2026-11-06T04:28:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T04:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/?p=3659"},"modified":"2026-11-06T00:34:26","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T00:34:26","slug":"killing-it-on-the-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/11\/06\/killing-it-on-the-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Killing it on the court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Natalie Hanna<\/a> \u00b7 Sports Editor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Senior Sarah Hart currently has 1,221 career kills, 670 of which she has recorded during her time as a Wolverine. (Luke Paglia | The Collegian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Senior hitter Sarah Hart has significantly stood out on the volleyball court in both skill and leadership since joining the Grove City College women\u2019s team in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A junior transfer from Messiah University, she immediately impacted the team during her first year at Grove City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSarah came to our program at a critical time as one of two transfers \u2014 the other was Lilly Wojtala \u2014 both brought valuable game experience,\u201d coach Leo Sayles said. \u201cSarah brought with her two years as a starter for another good program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hart finished her freshman season at Messiah second on the team in kills (258) and earned All-Region Rookie of the Year in addition to receiving the league\u2019s Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She brought more of the same in the Falcons\u2019 2024-2025 season, leading the team with 293 kills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s safe to say Hart\u2019s transfer to Grove City gave the Wolverines an asset. After playing in all 29 matches and leading the team with 388 kills last season here at the college, she earned All-PAC First Team honors in addition to being a member of the PAC title team. The beginning of her Grove City career was successful, to say the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHer ability to take most sets and find a way to challenge another team without generating a lot of errors is a huge asset to us, and positively affected our overall hitting efficiency, and more importantly gave us a valuable offensive weapon when we are forced out of our normal playing system,\u201d Sayles said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her second and last season with the Wolverines has also proven to be prosperous. She currently leads the team with 272 kills, bringing her Grove City career total to 660 and collegiate career total to 1,211 kills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hart\u2019s excellent performance over her collegiate career has come from many years of play. She began playing volleyball in sixth grade, making this season her eleventh. After trying out most sports throughout her childhood, she grew a passion for volleyball and has loved the sport ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only has her long time playing the sport developed her technical skills, but it has also impacted her mentally and spiritually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has been a great way to escape the stress of school and life and just have fun,\u201d Hart said. \u201cIt has also taught me the importance of having support around you because in volleyball you can’t do anything without your teammates, so it forces you to rely on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlso, playing for a Christian club in high school and for two Christian colleges has strengthened my faith immensely. My coaches have helped me realize how playing can glorify God, which has helped me grow a lot spiritually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As her talent has played a large role on the court, Hart\u2019s attitude has affected the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSarah leads by example. She is a quiet personality and yet has earned the respect of her teammates through her consistently focused, intentional effort in practice or games,\u201d Sayles said. \u201cHer humility is a hidden strength \u2014 she could have easily sought to draw attention to herself with her play, but from the moment she arrived she has quietly deflected any honors and held up her teammates as part of the reason for her own personal success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hart\u2019s humility is also evident in how she credits her coaches with her performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe coaching staff has consistently helped me improve through helping me with one little aspect of my game at a time,\u201d Hart said. \u201cI have already received a lot of coaching before I came here, so it has been great having them help me continue to get a little better each day since the little details can make the difference in a game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As her senior season ends, Hart reflected on how much she has loved being a member of the Wolverines; her favorite part is the teammates she has played with and grown close to for two seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no one else I would rather get to play with every day, and they always make it so fun, but while still staying focused on playing their best,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Natalie Hanna \u00b7 Sports Editor Senior hitter Sarah Hart has significantly stood out on the volleyball court in both skill and leadership since joining the Grove City College women\u2019s team in 2025. A junior transfer from Messiah University, she immediately impacted the team during her first year at Grove City. \u201cSarah came to our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[205],"tags":[61,308,24,261],"class_list":["post-3659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-womens-volleyball","tag-natalie-hanna","tag-nov-6-2026-edition","tag-sports","tag-womens-volleyball"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/11\/sarah-rotated-1-edited-1-scaled.webp",2560,1728,false],"thumbnail":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/11\/sarah-rotated-1-edited-1-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/11\/sarah-rotated-1-edited-1-300x203.webp",300,203,true],"medium_large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/11\/sarah-rotated-1-edited-1-768x518.webp",768,518,true],"large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/11\/sarah-rotated-1-edited-1-1024x691.webp",1024,691,true],"1536x1536":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/11\/sarah-rotated-1-edited-1-1536x1037.webp",1536,1037,true],"2048x2048":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/11\/sarah-rotated-1-edited-1-2048x1382.webp",2048,1382,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"hannang23","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/hannang23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Natalie Hanna \u00b7 Sports Editor Senior hitter Sarah Hart has significantly stood out on the volleyball court in both skill and leadership since joining the Grove City College women\u2019s team in 2025. A junior transfer from Messiah University, she immediately impacted the team during her first year at Grove City. \u201cSarah came to our…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3659"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3665,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659\/revisions\/3665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}