Sarah Blacker eyes wins record, NCAA berth as Wildcats open beach volleyball season

Sarah Blacker and beach volleyball seem like the perfect match.

She’s from San Diego and lives just blocks from the beach.

Still, it took a minute to decide that it was beach over indoor volleyball.

“I went back and forth for a while,” Blacker said. “And then I started realizing, ‘Wow, I love this way more than indoor volleyball. It might be something I want to pursue.’

“It became a college sport. I was like, ‘Wow! That’s something that I would love to do.’ I started getting some offers from schools for beach volleyball.

“I just fell in love with it. I love being outside. I love being in the sand. Being from San Diego, it’s such a social sport. Being outside playing with my friends and family. And it’s where I’ve met some of my best friends. Overall, the sport has just been great to me.”

So great that the 5-9 defender decided to put off entering the real world to play one more season for the Arizona beach volleyball team. She has big goals for this season, which begins Friday against UTEP and Oregon in the Cactus Classic at Bear Down Beach.

Blacker wants to help bring the program back to the NCAAs. Winning a national championship has been a goal since she walked onto the UA campus in the fall of 2018.

Now, she also has an individual goal — win 13 more matches to set a new program record. Currently with 74 wins, Blacker is in sixth place. Three former Wildcat standouts are tied with 86 wins apiece: Madison and McKenna Witt (2014-17) and Brooke Burling (2017-21).

Blacker is excited “to be one of the greatest winners in this beach program.”

Last season she went 23-8 and earned All-Pac-12 second-team honors. As a freshman in 2019 she also won 23 times and earned an AVCA Top Flight Award (Flight 4) playing on the fourth team.

‘Always been a winner’

UA coach Steve Walker knew Blacker had a shot at setting the wins record when he recruited her out of San Diego’s Cathedral Catholic High School.

“Sarah had success in the juniors level against players that were of the same age or older, consistently,” Walker said. “Winning is kind of a statistic of how we view things in the recruitment process. You recruit on projecting, athletic ability and mental habits, but Sarah has always been a winner.

“It was just a matter of getting her into our system and familiarizing her with the speed of the game at this level. And she just took off. She went from year one, playing on fours, having an outstanding season, and then slowly from there just creeping up the pecking order in our lineup. She has the mind of a veteran out there — and is someone that is really good about sharing and has been a great teammate.”

Blacker had no problem waiting for her turn behind some of the program greats that she is now poised to overtake on the all-time wins list. She understood her role each season and “works as hard or harder than anyone in the practice setting,” Walker said.

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Blacker’s mindset has always been what’s best for the team. She also understands that each team or line — one through five — is important and contributes to the team result.

“Coming in, I wasn’t thinking about the number I was playing or the line, but it was more what I can offer,” Blacker said.

“I always think about if my team loses, but I win my game, I did everything I could to help. ... If I don’t have that mindset, then it’s going to be hard to put your team in that (position) to win.”

One more year

Asking a student-athlete of Blacker’s caliber to return for a fifth year was an easy decision for Walker. It took Blacker a little while to re-commit.

“She has her finger on the pulse of the team as good as any player I’ve ever had,” Walker said. “She has that clutch gene where nothing fazes Sarah.

“We like to kid around that Sarah is the type of player who could take a nap 20 minutes before start time, wake up and let’s go. (She) wouldn’t need a warmup. Wouldn’t need anything. And she’s not concerned about the opposition. She has so much belief in her skills and her game. She’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever coached. She’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever coached. And she’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever coached.

“It was quite a long recruitment, to get Sarah to commit to that fifth year, but we’re doing it. I always felt that she was going to do it. It (was) just a matter of finding the right academic program.”

That master’s program is healthcare management in the Eller College of Management. It matches with her undergraduate degree in public health. She is interested in working on the business side of a hospital.

Blacker credits Walker for helping her make the decision to purse her master’s and play beach volleyball for one more year. He told her that she deserves to do what is best for her. In the end, that meant continuing her journey as a Wildcat.

“When I first came here, I was walking around. I remember seeing everyone in their Wildcat shirts wearing red, wearing the ‘A,’ and that is something I wanted to be part of,” Blacker said. “I loved how supportive everyone was.

“I came to a basketball game. I remember that the crowds were insane. And I went to a football game, and there was just so much pride. I knew that’s a community I wanted to be part of, but also a community that I wanted to play for. I want to show these people that I want to represent that ‘A.’

“Being a Wildcat has really shown me the importance of community and support. I love being a Wildcat because when I wear the ‘A’ and I’m in San Diego or wherever I am, I always hear someone yell, ‘Bear Down!’ There’s just so much pride in it.”

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