Ava Sarafa (Scott Smith Photo)
When Kentucky was winning the national volleyball championship last spring the matches were on all the time at Ava Sarafa’s home in Michigan.
“I was doing homework while I was watching matches,” she said. “Everyone was on the Texas train (to win the national title) and I would tell them to watch Kentucky because I think Kentucky will beat them. There was just a spark about Kentucky that made me interested.
“Madison Lilley was amazing. Watching her technique and everything she did, I wanted to be like her. Once Kentucky got into the finals with Texas, I was in St. Louis for a tournament but I watched the whole game. As soon as Kentucky won, I texted all my teammates and said, ‘I told you so.'”
Sarafa, a 6-0 setter for Marian (Mich.) High School, talked about going to Kentucky before the Cats won the national title and is not a Kentucky commit. She led all setters in the 2023 recruiting class in assists last season and had 725 in her team’s first 30 matches this season. Her team is 37-1 this season, ranked eighth nationally and ranked No. 1 in Michigan.
She has 952 assists this season and is close to 3,200 assists in her career. She’s leading the state in assists per set at 10.8 and is also No. 2 in blocks in Michigan in the 2023 recruiting class.
Marion just won the 32-team Beast of the East Tournament that featured nine of the 11 Miss Volleyball finalists. Marion won seven matches without dropping a set and Sarafa made the all-tournament team.
Her club coach told her she needed to get on UK’s radar, so she emailed the Kentucky staff knowing COVID protocols had restricted recruiting. She also knew she had improved dramatically her sophomore season when Marian won a state title and had hit a peak that enabled her to start thinking about being a big-time college recruit.
“I got into volleyball late. I didn’t start until middle school and then decided to be a setter,” she said. “I didn’t really know what to expect recruiting-wise. Recruiters came to my last three tournaments of club season. I started talking to Kentucky about June 29. I went on a couple of visits before Kentucky but I always kept communicating with Kentucky. They were great and when I went for my visit it was amazing.
“I had been watching Kentucky volleyball since I started playing. I watched it all last year. The volleyball program there is such high quality every year. Just being in the presence of what he (coach Craig Skinner) was saying to his team made my game better. The culture there is like family and I knew I had found my home.”
Even though it was a quick recruitment, family and friends were not terribly surprised when she committed so soon. Coaches and teammates let her know they were “proud” of her.
“I know it was kind of early in the recruiting process but I loved Kentucky and I am very happy with my decision,” she said.
She comes from an athletic family. One brother is a senior cornerback on the Wylie E Groves High School football team. One sister played volleyball at Michigan state. Another sibling finished sixth in the collegiate equestrian national finals.
“We are a very athletic family. My parents were both athletes. I don’t remember when I wasn’t involved in sports,” she said. “I tried swimming, tennis, gymnastics, soccer. In our free time we played family basketball games. At Thanksgiving, we would play football. Sports are in our blood.
“But I remember touching a ball and loving volleyball. I would always have a ball in my hand and passing it against the wall. I watched my older sister play and was fascinated by the game. Once I got a ball in my hands, I never put it down. I started training to be a setter and loved it.”
Now her bucket list item would be to meet Lilley, an All-American setter and the national player of the year during UK’s championship season.
“She just looks like an amazing person and setter. I know she is in Germany playing professionally. It would definitely be a bucket-list moment for me to meet her and hopefully during my time at UK that will happen,” Sarafa, who is ranked as the No. 1 setter in Michigan in the 2023 recruiting class, said.
