Determination, hard work, and competition.

These aren’t just the words on the inspirational poster you see in the principal’s office.

They are the traits Evan Sanders believes helped her earn a Division I college scholarship while playing volleyball at Centaurus High School.

It may sound corny, but not recognizing the commitment she’s made wouldn’t be giving her enough credit.

Sanders’ is a 6-foot tall tower of an athlete. She looks like a younger, slightly shorter, version of Gabrielle Reece, the former beach volleyball legend turned magazine cover girl.

“I would love to follow in someone like that’s footsteps,” remarks Evan when the comparison is brought up.

The coach of the Centaurus Warriors is Bev Sanders, Evan’s mom.

Having your mom as a coach can be difficult at times too, especially when a win-at-all-costs attitude becomes detrimental to the team.

Said Coach Sanders, “I’ve only had to do it twice, but sometimes her emotions get the best of her and a break from the action is needed.”

In order to become a better team leader Evan has worked hard on keeping her emotions in check when she is on the floor.

“I used to shut down when I got frustrated. It wasn’t good for the team. My teammates let me know they prefer me to stay vocal. Knowing I have their respect has helped a lot,” Evan said.

Evan also says that playing for her mom has been a great experience and something she will miss when she graduates from Centaurus at the end of the year.

Next year Evan plans on taking her game north to Ft. Collins, CO where she’ll play for the Colorado State Rams and head coach Tom Hilbert.

Evan’s emergence as a volleyball player even surprised herself.

It wasn’t long ago that she had dreams of playing in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), not the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP).

Sanders began playing basketball by following her older brother to practice.

Her height and athleticism got her noticed by a club volleyball coach in eighth grade.

The rest is well-documented history.

“I’ve been playing sports my entire life. When I was younger my brother, sister and I would tag along to mom’s practices and try taking serves from the older girls,”Evan said.

Soon after taking up volleyball Evan began playing for the Front Range Volleyball Club and never looked back.

Her immediate success inspired her to continue pursuing her dream of a college scholarship, only now it was volleyball she was concentrated on.

As a 15-year-old she made the All-Tournament team at the Junior Olympics.

As a freshmen starter on the Centaurus volleyball team she was awarded league MVP.

As a senior Evan recalls those achievements as some of her most cherished moments.

Evan gives a lot of credit for her success to the structure and non-stop demands of the Front Range Volleyball Club.

“It’s like a job. We practice four days a week and on Saturday’s we start at 9 am and don’t leave until 4 pm. You really have to be dedicated to play at the next level to go to all the practices and tournaments,” she says.

Evan will most likely be switching positions when she steps on the court as a CSU Ram.

“I’ll probably be switching to setter. It’s the position I play on my club team. The biggest challenge will be improving my defense. I’m a big girl I don’t like to get down on the floor.”

To make sure there isn’t any rust on her game Evan has been meeting with her club coach on Sunday’s during the season to work on her setting and playing the ball from different angles.

After thirteen years of coaching the Centaurus girls varsity team, this will be Bev Sanders’ last.

“It’ll be tough to give up coaching but it’s time. This is the big payoff though, having a child play D-1 sports.”
Both of Evan’s parents played collegiate athletics.

Bev Sanders was a standout volleyball player at Cal-State Stanislaus.

Evan’s father Collins Sanders played football at Northern Colorado before a knee injury ended his playing career. He is now the coach and Head of Operations for the Colorado Ice in Loveland, CO, an indoor football team that competes in the United Indoor Football Association.

Evan’s older brother Dillon is a redshirt freshmen quarterback at the Colorado School of Mines. Alex, the oldest of the siblings, is a senior at Black Hill State in South Dakota.

Evan is a Student Council member at Centaurus and volunteers twice a week at Sanchez Elementary School, where her mother is a second grade teacher.

She says she has interest in majoring in Interior Design at CSU. If that doesn’t work out she says she’d be happy to follow in the footsteps of her mom, becoming a teacher and a coach.