Sara Carr a leader on and off the court

Sara Carr has earned more than enough accolades on the volleyball and basketball courts throughout her career.

The senior at Mountain Brook High School is the two-time reigning Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year in volleyball, as the Lady Spartans have captured the Class 7A state championship each of the last two seasons. She was also named the state tournament Most Valuable Player both years.

On the basketball floor, she is productive in many areas. She averaged 20.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game as a junior, and set a school record with 544 points in a single season. The only thing keeping her from shattering many other records is the fact that she will have four years of varsity action under her belt, while many of the program record holders accumulated five seasons worth of statistics.

Despite those statistics, Carr’s on-the-court dominance is not the headliner when her name is mentioned. The intangible attributes she possesses that enable her to lead on and off the courts begin to pop up in conversations.

“She’s always been such a unique and special individual,” said Mark Cornelius, coach of the Lady Spartans basketball team.

Selflessness, humility and leadership are some other words batted around, as each of her coaches’ faces lit up when speaking about her.

For example, Carr willingly does what Cornelius considers the most selfless act possible for a basketball player: stepping in front of an offensive player, absorbing contact, and taking a charging foul.

“You don’t get to shoot free throws, it hurts a little bit, and sometimes you don’t even get the call,” he said. “But it can totally affect the outcome of a game.”

No matter which sport she is playing, the Dec. 14 recipient of the Birmingham Tip-Off Club Player of the Week is the same person no matter the circumstance. She displays a personal drive to get better at everything she does. 

“She’s one of those players that completely will dominate a match and be a leader in all statistical categories on Tuesday night, and Wednesday she’s the one saying, ‘I want to improve on this. I want to work on this and get better at this.’ She was never satisfied,” said Haven O’Quinn, the volleyball coach at Mountain Brook.

That motivation extends to her academics, as she boasts a grade point average (GPA) over 4.2. Somehow she makes time for excellence in the athletic and academic arenas, while attempting to live a balanced life.

 “A lot of my friends do play the sports I play, which is nice, because you get built-in friend time,” Carr said. 

O’Quinn does not know Mountain Brook volleyball without Carr; O’Quinn arrived the same year Carr began her varsity career as a freshman. 

“She has made me a better coach,” O’Quinn said. “When you get a player like that, it’s just the best thing.”

Physical talent is obviously required to achieve the amount of success, especially on the volleyball court — that, Carr has — but when asked how she was able to win the Gatorade Player of the Year award, Carr deflected personal responsibility entirely.

“My setter, Sara Chandler Mitchell, she’s one of my very best friends,” Carr said. “I give a lot of my credit to her because she is the best setter in the state, hands down. She’s just amazing.”

While her high school volleyball career has ended, there is still work to be done with the basketball team. Before the season, the team held a players-only dinner, a regular Sunday evening event, to discuss the goals for the upcoming slate.

“We all wrote down our goals for the season,” Carr said. “We want to try to get to the Elite Eight this year.”

After playing on the perimeter her previous three years with the basketball team, Carr has been asked to fill a need and play in the painted area more often than not this season. Even for someone who does not get the head start in the preseason because of volleyball, she has managed to be a standout in both sports.

“She doesn’t play a ton of basketball, which is amazing because she’s a freak in basketball,” Cornelius said. “But her basketball IQ has really improved. I’m really proud of her for how she’s developed that part of her game.”

Both Mountain Brook programs are going to miss Carr, to say the least. Cornelius thinks that people will truly realize just how much of an impact she had once she graduates.

Carr has determined that she will pursue volleyball in college. As the top player in the state, she had multiple offers from several high-major, Division 1 programs. Instead of going that route, though, she found a school in Emory University that best suited her as an all-around school. With Emory being a Division 3 school, she will not receive an athletic scholarship, further proving that she chose the university for reasons extending far beyond athletics.

“It shows how mature she is,” O’Quinn said. “She could’ve gotten a full ride somewhere. For Sara to decline those offers from some different places, it just shows that she gets it. She realizes that college is not just about playing volleyball.”

“I went to visit and I loved it,” Carr said. “It was beautiful. It was perfect. There was something about them that was special, and the academics sold it.”

Carr plans on getting a chemical engineering degree from Emory, which also has a partnership with Georgia Tech. 

She admits she will miss the game of basketball, but has every intention of making the most of her final season.

Don’t expect her to linger around after practices, though.

“I’m really studying a lot, to be honest. It takes up so much time,” she said.