Marysville High School graduate Anna McNabb (5) is pictured in this file photo setting the ball during a volleyball match. McNabb, a sophomore at Heidelberg University, recently won Ohio Athletic Conference honors for the 2017 season.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Marysville High School graduate Anna McNabb made a name for herself on the volleyball court while playing for the Lady Monarchs.
McNabb earned honorable mention status in the Ohio Capital Conference Central Division two years ago as a senior. She was also a scholar-athlete and team captain.
The former Lady Monarch is continuing that trend on the collegiate court as she was recently named to second-team honors in the Ohio Athletic Conference as a Heidelberg University sophomore.
“I didn’t expect that honor at all,” said McNabb during a telephone interview with the Journal-Tribune. “I didn’t play that much as a freshman last year, so I really wasn’t expecting anything like this.”
McNabb did play sparingly on a senior-oriented team during the 2016 campaign. She took the court for seven matches as the Lady Student Princes posted a 24-11 record.
McNabb tallied 45 assists as a setter during that span.
Heidelberg faced a big rebuilding task this fall after those graduation losses.
The team finished with an overall record of 17-12 during the recently-completed campaign. The Student Princes were 6-3 in the OAC, good for fifth place in the 10-team circuit.
The new-look roster allowed McNabb an opportunity to step up and establish herself as the squad’s top setter.
Her season stats support her OAC accolade.
During 26 matches, McNabb amassed 1,054 total assists, including a career-high 66 during a victory over Transylvania.
McNabb’s statistics are impressive, but are even more so considering she missed three matches because of injuries. She was under the school’s concussion protocol for two of those contests.
Since McNabb did not see a lot of court time as a freshman, her sophomore campaign could best be described as on-the-job training.
“It was a learning process,” she said. “I struggled early, but it was such an honor to play with all these girls. I felt I had to hold myself up to their standards because they had so much previous success.”
Once McNabb got into the flow of the team, she put together a standout season that concluded with the presentation of the OAC honor that she calls “amazing, to say the least.”
Volleyball was not the only facet of collegiate life that got better for the former Lady Monarch.
The academic load has become easier to handle, she said.
McNabb is studying biology and environmental science. She hopes to one day go into the field of oceanography or national park conservation.
“A lot of my classes are outdoors,” she said. “That’s where I like to be.”
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