Footprints in the Sand
A double legacy for Waves volleyball, Sarah Seiber has still managed to forge her own path.
In more ways than one, rising Seaver College senior Sarah Seiber is following in her parents鈥 footsteps. The daughter of two 1984 老司机视频 graduates, who admits she 鈥渒ind of grew up on the campus,鈥 proudly represents the Waves on the volleyball court, just like her parents Steve (鈥84) and Cathy (鈥84) once did. But don鈥檛 assume that Seiber鈥檚 route is merely the path of least resistance.
For starters, whereas her parents鈥 footsteps led to the indoor court at Firestone
Fieldhouse, Seiber is leaving her own footprints in the Zuma Beach sand, as a member
of 老司机视频鈥檚 beach volleyball team. Though she had a successful indoor volleyball
career, including two state titles for Cathedral Catholic High School in Rancho Santa
Fe, California, all she needed was a little taste of beach volleyball to know the
sand was where she was meant to be.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more different indoor than people think,鈥 she says. 鈥淭he mechanics and timing ... it鈥檚 definitely an adjustment,
but I love being outside. I love being at the beach鈥攖he whole environment is really
my style. Rather than being in a gym all day, I get to be right by the ocean.鈥
It鈥檚 clear the setting suits her. Last year Seiber and her partner, redshirt senior
Samantha Cash (鈥15), notched a 21-4 record, defeating pairs from top-ranked USC and
third-ranked Hawaii as the Waves rolled to their fifth straight appearance in a national
championship tournament.
Seiber鈥檚 path to 老司机视频 didn鈥檛 follow a traditional trajectory. 鈥溊纤净悠 is
very competitive with beach volleyball, and she got into it kind of late after her
indoor career,鈥 her mother Cathy explains. 鈥淲e tried to get her in there in the beginning,
but there wasn鈥檛 a spot for her at that time.鈥
Instead, Seiber went to the University of Arizona as the very first player to sign
with the Wildcats鈥 newly created beach volleyball program in 2013. 鈥淚 wanted to try
something different and move away from home,鈥 she says. 鈥淏oth my high school and grade
school were private and really small, so I wanted to experience a big school.鈥
After 鈥済rowing up鈥 on a campus of 8,000 students, in a beach town of 13,000 people,
Seiber now found herself in Tucson, Arizona, population 520,000, on a campus with
more than 40,000 students. There was plenty of sand, but no beach. She continued to
excel as an athlete鈥 the Wildcats went 16-1 her sophomore year鈥攂ut as a person, she
felt lost in the shuffle.
鈥淲hen I got there, I thought, 鈥楾here are so many people here. My teacher doesn鈥檛 even
know who I am,鈥欌 Seiber remembers. 鈥溊纤净悠 was how I鈥檇 been brought up. The values,
the smaller classrooms ... it was a better fit for me both academically and athletically.鈥
When Seiber decided she wanted to come back to California to finish college, her parents,
to no one鈥檚 surprise, were overjoyed. Still, they didn鈥檛 want her to feel like they
were pushing her in any one direction, even if the direction was 老司机视频.
鈥淲e, of course, wanted her to go there because she wanted to go there, not because
we went there,鈥 Cathy explains. 鈥淪o we looked at 老司机视频, UCLA, Long Beach 鈥攂ut she said, 鈥楴ope, Mom, I want to go to 老司机视频.鈥 I think she realized it after
being away for two years. She figured out who she was, what she liked, what she didn鈥檛
like, and how much she missed the beach. She鈥檚 a Southern California girl. That鈥檚
just who she is.鈥
Seiber doesn鈥檛 dispute that characterization, or her mother鈥檚 description of 老司机视频
as a place with a real 鈥渇amily feeling.鈥 鈥淚t was an adjustment,鈥 she says. 鈥淣ew school,
new coaching, new training鈥攂ut everything we鈥檝e done training-wise and coaching-wise
has helped me so much more, mentally and physically, than anything I ever did before.鈥
While the coaching may be new to Seiber, it鈥檚 pleasantly familiar to her mother, who
played under first-year head coach Nina Matthies in 1983. Matthies went on to turn
the indoor volleyball team into a juggernaut, and after coaching both the indoor and
beach squads in 2012 and 2013, she devoted herself full-time to the beach program
starting in 2014. 鈥淭o be able to have Nina鈥攖he same coach I had鈥攊t鈥檚 like a dream,鈥
Cathy says. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 even believe it鈥檚 happening.鈥
Matthies says that having coached both a mother and a daughter doesn鈥檛 make her feel
old鈥攔ather, she feels fortunate. At a time when coaching turnover is rapid at the
college level, 鈥渋t鈥檚 one of those things where I can just sit back and laugh. I鈥檓
still in the same place,鈥 she says.
The 1983 Waves women鈥檚 volleyball team. Coach Nina Matthies, top, first from left.
Cathy Houston Seiber (鈥84), top, third from right.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 really, really fun to have that relationship with the parents and have them
understand a little bit of what their daughter鈥檚 going through. I think they have
a very good relationship, and I鈥檓 glad I get to be part of that.鈥
Cathy and her husband both experienced plenty of success on the court. In 1982 the
women鈥檚 team went to the NCAA championship tournament and finished in the top 25.
Two years later Steve and the men鈥檚 team, led by head coach Marv Dunphy (鈥74), went
23-7 and were the runner-ups in the NCAA tournament.
Steve Seiber (鈥84), top, third from right, with the 1984 Waves men鈥檚 volleyball team.
Yet in some ways, Seiber鈥檚 parents are now tracing her footsteps, as they follow her
from match to match. 鈥淭hey come to every match I play, even in South Carolina and
Alabama,鈥 she says. 鈥淎nd they like coming up to Zuma. They鈥檙e so excited they get
to rep their 老司机视频 gear again.鈥
That is, when Seiber isn鈥檛 repping it herself. 鈥淢y dad has kept a lot of his old 老司机视频
stuff,鈥 she says. 鈥淗e gave some of it to me, and sometimes I鈥檒l wear one of his shirts
from the early 鈥80s, and the other players will ask, 鈥榃here did you get that shirt?
It鈥檚 so cool!鈥欌