Former Elon Women’s Volleyball Star Signs to Play in France

ELON, N.C. – Former Elon volleyball standout Sarah Schermerhorn has signed a one-year contract to continue playing professionally in Europe. Schermerhorn will now play for Pays d’Aix Venelles Volley Ball Club in Aix en Provence, France.

Last season, Schermerhorn played for Brøndby Volleyball Club in Copenhagen, Demark. The club came in second in both league play and the Danish Finals at the end of the season. Schermerhorn’s team also won the Danish Cup in December for the first time in club history. Schermerhorn started every game for the team and earned recognition as Denmark’s middle of the year.

“It was a difficult transition to move and play volleyball so far away from my support group of family, friends, former teammates and coaches,” described Schermerhorn. “I’m very excited to have the opportunity to compete another year, this time in France and continue to grow as both a volleyball player and person.”

With Pays d’Aix Venelles, Schermerhorn will be playing in a higher-level league than she did with Brøndby. Schermerhorn will also be the only American on the team.

Schermerhorn graduated from Elon in May of 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. While wearing the maroon and gold, Schermerhorn earned SoCon all-conference and all-tournament honors, while also being selected to the CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-District 3 First Team.

“I also had to transition into a new personal role this last year,” commented Schermerhorn. “The word ‘student-athlete’ is so heavily stressed at Elon and it was weird to drop the student aspect and just focus on volleyball this past year. But I by no means stopped learning during my time in Denmark. I picked up a little Danish and explored the many cultural differences all while competing in a sport that I love.”

As a senior during the 2010 season, she started all 35 matches and ranked in the top two on the team in kills, kills per set, serve aces and blocks, earning her the 2010 team MVP award. In her four years at Elon, Schermerhorn recorded 1,023 kills, 199 service aces and 381 blocks. She finished her career fourth on Elon’s Division I individual career records list for total blocks and fifth on the Division I individual season records list for service aces.