ELLSWORTH, Maine — Sarah Shelton never touched a volleyball before she got to high school.
But her introduction to the sport was followed by four years on the sport’s fast track, leading to a chance to compete on the NCAA Division I level.
Shelton, a 6-foot-1-inch senior outside hitter for Ellsworth High School and the Maine Juniors 18 Gold National AAU team, will join the two-time defending America East champion University of New Hampshire women’s volleyball team as a recruited walk-on beginning next fall.
“I went to the UNH camp my sophomore year and thought it was the coolest thing ever, and then I knew I wanted to play at the collegiate level,” said Shelton, who also was accepted to Saint Anselm and Colby-Sawyer colleges.
Shelton was named the 2014 Gatorade Maine Volleyball Player of the Year last fall after amassing 192 kills with a .508 kill percentage while leading coach Mike Kelley’s Ellsworth club to the Class A state quarterfinals.
She also totaled 157 service receptions, 102 digs, 84 assists and 56 service aces during the regular season and had 33 kills, 27 digs, 25 service receptions, seven assists and a service ace in two postseason matches en route to being selected as the Maine Volleyball Coaches Association’s Player of the Year and first-team All-Maine Class A.
A four-year letterwinner and team captain as a senior, Shelton also was named last season to the Academic All-State first team.
“Sarah has worked incredibly hard to get to the level she is playing,” said UNH coach Jill Hirschinger.
“She had limited opportunities to develop as a player and has taken advantage of every single one. The state of Maine has really come a long way in volleyball and we are thrilled to add Sarah and her family to our family.”
Shelton, who concentrated on swimming as a middle-schooler, was a sudden convert to volleyball.
“I didn’t even know we had a high school volleyball team, but a girl who was already on the team at Ellsworth High School came up to me one day at the YMCA and said, ‘Oh my word, you’re so tall, you should play volleyball,’” said Shelton. “And I said, ‘OK, I don’t play soccer so why not?’ and it kind of went from there.”
By her sophomore year, the daughter of Steve and Brenda Shelton of Ellsworth not only played for Ellsworth but joined the state’s club circuit through the Maine Juniors program.
A year later she earned a spot on the Maine Juniors state team based in the Portland area. That added to her commitment to the sport with 2½-hour one-way trips to practice after school on Thursdays and on Sunday afternoons as well as periodic weekend tournaments.
“It’s worth it,” she said. “I just do my homework in the car.”
The Maine Juniors’ season concludes in late June when the team will travel to Florida for its second straight appearance in the AAU nationals.
“The level of commitment to the sport that Sarah and her parents have shown is incredible,” said Maine Juniors coach Andy Pohl after Shelton made her initial commitment to UNH. “I am thrilled to see it paying off for them. Sarah has been given an opportunity that many in Maine can only dream of. Her hard work has paid off.”
Shelton, who is playing first singles for the Ellsworth girls tennis team, said she likely will attend UNH volleyball camps this summer and play in some beach volleyball competitions before heading to the Durham, New Hampshire, campus in early August for the start of preseason training.
“I have to get better all around, but more my defensive skills and in being an outside hitter and getting a better vertical,” she said.
“The competition is a lot higher, and when you watch UNH compared to my junior team it’s a lot faster and the rallies go on a lot longer, so you need to be ready for that.”
UNH compiled a 20-12 overall record and 11-1 mark in conference matches in 2014, earning the top seed in the America East Championships for the second straight year. The Wildcats then notched their fifth league title and second in as many years to secure an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
