With just over three weeks until the first serve, today we continue our series on the new players you’ll see on the court this coming season.

Sabrina Tavakoli is a 5’7″ setter from Centennial High School in Corona CA. She played on the varsity squad all four years of her career and was a team captain the final two. She was a three time scholar-athlete and a three-time team MVP as well.

Tavakoli earned All-Big VIII honors all four seasons, the first two on the Second Team and the last two on the First Team. She was also named a Most Hustling Player for three seasons and Big VIII Hustling Player of the Year her final year.

She played club at Mizuno Long Beach, where her teams placed in the top 15 at the Junior National Championships three times, including a 7th place finish this year. She was also part of her club’s beach team and earned a silver medal at Junior National Championships.

PrepVolleyball noted that Tavakoli was a “fine setter” who leads her squad’s “fast offense” which “can give teams fits”.

According to her school paper, Tavakoli chose Tennessee for the volleyball program, academics, and to be part of the “best conference for all sports”. She described her style of play to a local media outlet as “quick and risky. I love to run a fast/quick offense that messes the other side of the net up, also sometimes very risky because I like to try new things or pull off unexpected plays while playing the game”.

Coach Patrick said of Tavakoli: “Sabrina is a very athletic, quick and strong volleyball player who will come in with a lot of experience. She plays for one of the top club teams in the country at Long Beach Mizuno and has been trained by two All-American setters in Joy McKienzie-Fuerbringer and Sabrina Hernandez. She already sets a high level of offense and we expect her to compete for playing time when she sets foot on campus.”