Sarah Sumida, front row center, is surrounded by her Baylor coaches and teammates at her signing party held Wednesday at the school. Sumida, the daughter of Dr. Mark and Deidre Sumida, signed scholarship papers to continue her volleyball career at Middle Tennessee State University. Holder of the TSSAA state record in assists with 5,262, she was also the Most Valuable Payer at the 2017 Division II-AA State Tournament, helping to lead Baylor to the state championship.
photo by Dennis Norwood
It’s hard to believe, but Sarah Sumida’s time as a student athlete at Baylor School will be coming to an end real soon.
No doubt, time flies when you’re having fun and that has certainly been the case for the 17-year-old daughter of Mark and Deidre Sumida.
Sarah ran track at one point and she even played a little soccer in earlier years, but she’s been an integral part of a Baylor volleyball team. She’s a seven-year day student, but has been on the volleyball team the past five. During that time, the Lady Red Raiders have won two state titles, finished second twice and third once.
She was an obvious choice as the state tournament MVP back in the fall after leading her team past a tough Briarcrest squad.
During those five years, Baylor has won 219 matches while losing just 32. And most of those defeats have come against nationally-ranked, out-of-state teams.
Volleyball is an action-packed sport and there’s nobody that plays any harder on every single point than Sumida. Normally, when she heads off the court after a match, her jersey is completed soaked because she goes all out on every point and simply refuses to let a ball hit the floor.
Sumida has an amazing list of accomplishments on the volleyball court. Perhaps the most significant is her state-record 5,262 assists. She earned All-Region honors the past two years and was named Region MVP for 2017. She also earned All-State honors the past two years and has led the Lady Red Raiders to Region champions all five years.
Sarah Lail has been the Baylor coach for the past nine years. She’s been fortunate to coach some really great players. Sarah Sumida certainly is at the top of the list.
While her Baylor career is in the rear-view mirror, she’ll be playing at the next level and just Wednesday, signed scholarship papers to become a Blue Raider at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.
Lail is an excitable coach, but she really gets pumped up when talking about her captain for the past year.
“I’ve been fortunate to win two state titles here in 2014 and 2017. Sarah was part of both,” Lail said during a celebration at the Luke Worsham Lobby Wednesday evening.
“She’s been so instrumental to what we’ve done these past five years and her work ethic has helped us build Baylor volleyball into what it is today. She’s certainly one of the best I’ve ever coached and she’s done a great job of making great players around her even better.
“She’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been associated with and her ability to put up a hittable ball from any spot on the court is simply amazing.
“It’s so sad that her career at Baylor is over, but I’m sure she’ll bring the same quality of play to those girls at MTSU. I know that I’ll miss her, but I don’t think it will hit me until fall practice begins and she’s not with us. It will so weird not having a Sumida on the floor as I’ve coached one for the past 12 years,” Lail added.
Kurt Emmanuel was Baylor’s first volleyball coach in 1991 and he too has seen more than his share of outstanding players.
Sarah Sumida is certainly on that list.
“She’s extremely dedicated and a tremendous role model for the younger girls. She’s a great listener and very willing to take criticism,” the long-time coach nodded.
“She never complains and always has a really positive attitude. I’ve never seen her down, but she’s so talented in so many aspects of the game. She has such delicate hands and no doubt, is the best setter we’ve ever had,” Emmanuel continued.
While Sumida has maintained a 3.9 grade point average, she plans to major in biology at MTSU while her career goal is to become an optometrist.
She’s the third Sumida sibling to earn a college scholarship as older sister Nicole got one in volleyball while brother Alex earned one in track and cross country.
No doubt, bigger and better things are ahead for this talented brunette.
“It will be weird leaving Baylor after being a student here these past seven years, but what a great experience it has been,” she said once some of the celebration had died down.
“I’ve met a lot of great people and I’ve learned a lot. I used to run track and play soccer, but volleyball has been my main sport in recent years,” she continued.
This young lady has had some memorable experiences on the Baylor volleyball court, but which stands out as the most significant?
“Winning two state titles was the best, but that last one in the fall is number one. I had a lot of energy that day and we were all on top of our game. The entire team played with a lot of confidence that day.
“I was so relieved to win it again, but there’s a lot of pressure in a match like that. We had lost to Briarcrest the year before and it looked like we might have to play a fifth set, but somehow we were able to pull it out. That was a feeling like none other,” she added.
Ironically, the state volleyball tournament is held in Murfreesboro with the championship matches in Murphy Center. Sarah was quick to say that she’d be there next fall when the Baylor girls return to defend their title.
“All I can say is that coach Lail better let me sit on the bench during that tournament. I’ll be their number-one fan,” Sumida concluded.
Baylor has developed one of the top volleyball programs in the Southeast in recent years. Give Sarah Sumida a lot of credit because she’s been one of the driving forces behind that success.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)