Sam Wopat
Position: Outside Hitter
Height: 6-1
Weight: 148
Hometown/Residence: Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara, Calif.
Birth Date: Oct. 13, 1992
Club Team/Coach: Santa Barbara Volleyball Club (Santa Barbara, Calif.) / Liz Towne-Gilbert
High School/Grad Year: Dos Pueblos High School (Goleta, Calif.) / 2010
College Status: Verbal commitment to Stanford University
USA VOLLEYBALL HIGHLIGHTS: 2009 – Selected to the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Training Team. 2008 – Led the U.S. Girls’ Youth A2 White Team to the silver medal in the Women’s International Junior Division silver bracket at the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships 2007 – Led USA Select A1 Team to silver medal in the Youth International Division of the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships.
CLUB/PREP HIGHLIGHTS: 2009 – Named Athlete of the Year for women’s track and field by the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table. 2008 – Named All-Tournament after leading Santa Barbara Volleyball Club 15-1 to a bronze-medal finish in the Open Division at the USA Junior Olympic Girls’ Volleyball Championships…Selected All-CIF Southern California Section First-Team and All-Channel League (CIF) First-Team with Dos Pueblos High School…Named all-tournament at the California Challenge Tournament and Chalifornia Challenge Tournament. 2007 – Paced Santa Barbara Volleyball Club 14-1 Team to a fifth-place finish in the USA Junior Olympic Girls’ Volleyball Championship Open Division…Earned All-CIF Channel League and All-County Second-Team. 2006 – Assisted Santa Barbara Volleyball Club 13-1 to a bronze finish at the USA Junior Olympic Girls’ Volleyball Championship Club Division. 2005 – Helped Santa Barbara Volleyball Club 13-1 Team to a sixth-place finish at Reno Volleyball Festival. 2004 – Began club volleyball with Santa Barbara Volleyball Club 12-1 Team.
PERSONAL: Born Samantha Lani Wopat on Oct. 13, 1992, in Santa Barbara, Calif.… Parents are Ron and Kathy Wopat… Father Ron competed in the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials for the decathlon and placed 12th out of 32 competitors and was a part of the eight-member 1981 U.S. Decathlon Team…Mother Kathy competed in gymnastics and track and field at UC Santa Barbara…Brothers are Jackson (1995) and Eli (1998) and twin sister is Carly (1992)…Sister Carly was also selected to the 2008 U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team…Has played beach volleyball for four years and her playing partner is her twin sister Carly…Hobbies include playing sports other than volleyball, reading and spending time with friends…Competes on high school track and field team in the discus throw, long jump, triple jump and high jump events…Favorite food is waffles…Favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird…Favorite music category is rock…Favorite musicians are Jack Johnson and Nickelback…Favorite professional team is beach dual of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh…Favorite athlete is Phil Dalhausser…Most admired person is Lance Armstrong because “he is a fierce competitor that overcame obstacles to reach his goals.”
INTERESTING NOTES: “My Dad has six older brothers and grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. His brother Tom Wopat is an actor (who does Broadway now) and played Luke Duke on the TV show Dukes of Hazzard. My Mom was raised in Hawaii. I am a member of the Dos Pueblos High School Engineering Academy and look forward to being on the robotics team next year. I recently (April 2009) broke the school record in discus for track and field! I have a twin and 2 little brothers.”
