McCarthy commits to continue women’s volleyball career at Juniata

HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Sarah McCarthy (Villa Park, Ill./Willowbrook), a former volleyball standout at Willowbrook High School, has decided to continue her academic and athletic career at Juniata College where she will play women's volleyball for the two-time Division III national champion Eagles and head coach Heather Pavlik.

McCarthy, a setter, will be transferring to Juniata from Furman University in Greenville, S.C., where she has played volleyball for the past two seasons.

As a freshman at Furman, McCarthy was the lone Paladin selection to the Southern Conference's 2010 All-Freshman Team, after earning SoCon Freshman of the Week honors twice during the regular season. She finished the season with 486 assists and 139 digs over 80 sets played, averaging 6.07 assists and 1.74 digs per set.

During her sophomore season in 2011, McCarthy saw the court in 23 sets over 14 matches, finishing with 84 assists for 3.65 assists per set. She also turned up 27 digs over the course of the season.

"Sarah will be a great addition to this team as she brings collegiate experience at the setter position," said Pavlik. "She has been trained very well in her scholastic, club and two-year career at Furman University. She is very technically sound and loves to compete. We are looking forward to getting her into our training gym."

McCarthy was MVP of her team at Willowbrook High School as a senior, earning Chicago Tribune Player of the Month honors during the season, and her playing resume includes a distinguished career with the 1^st Alliance Volleyball Club. Sarah is the daughter of John and Jo McCarthy, and will study communications and integrated mixed media at Juniata College. 

The Eagles are led by Heather Pavlik, former three-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American setter and longtime Juniata associate head coach, who is in her second year as head coach. Since Pavlik joined the Juniata staff as an assistant coach in 1996, the Eagles have posted a record of 493 wins against only 63 losses.

As associate head coach to legendary coach Larry Bock, Pavlik helped lead Juniata to NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball national titles in both 2004 and 2006 – part of Juniata's amazing run of 31 consecutive conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances, with 25 appearances in the national semifinals and eight appearances in the national championship match.

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