ABOVE: Martin County West’s Emily Anderson was named the 2024 All-Sentinel Volleyball Player of the Year on Saturday.

SHERBURN – Being around the sport of volleyball for much of her life, it’s no surprise Martin County West senior Emily Anderson was able to have the 2024 she did.

Finishing her senior season with 297 kills, 366 digs, 24 assists, and going 95.7% serving with 27 aces, Anderson not only recently earned her spot on the All-Sentinel Volleyball team but also on the Tomahawk-Valley Conference, All-Valley Division Volleyball team. She added one more feather in her cap to conclude her final year of volleyball with the Mavericks, however, as she was named the 2024 All-Sentinel Volleyball Player of the Year.

Anderson’s interest in volleyball started at a young age as she had multiple family members participate in the sport.

“My mom always played volleyball … I kind of just knew I was going to play,” said Anderson. “Then my older cousin played volleyball in college. So, I kind of grew up watching her play, kind of just following in the footsteps of my family.”

Beginning her varsity career in eighth grade, the challenge of playing at a high level was never an issue for Anderson.

“It’s different every year because, obviously, you’re playing with new girls every year … But it’s just a chance to learn from new people, especially when I was younger. I was playing, I was an eighth-grader playing with seniors and, I mean, that can be scary, but it’s just like a learning opportunity, and that’s kind of how I grew my game, looking up to older people as I grew up.”

Looking back at her final year of volleyball with the Mavericks, who finished 16-10 and made it to the Section 2A quarterfinals, Anderson cited a love of team chemistry during the season and wouldn’t have changed a thing about the squad she played with this year.

“This final season was actually super fun,” said Anderson. “Like the way that our whole team connected was so much fun. There was never a moment where we were fighting because I feel like that happens a lot in volleyball where there’s always drama, but there was never that with this team. We just all had such good chemistry and we all worked together. It was just so much fun all the time. And we kind of knew that … the first game we were all happy.”

MCW head coach Kayla Zehms helped foster Anderson’s love of the game as the years passed, keeping practices fun yet intense, developing her players to be the best they could be.

“There’s never a dull moment in the gym with her,” said Anderson. “We’re always working hard, of course, and we always have fun while doing it with her [Zehms]. Like, we’ll do some crazy drill. And we’re always just having fun and working hard and she does a good job of doing both at the same time. Like, always making sure everyone’s working hard but keeping it light in the gym and making sure that we’re having fun.”

Anderson, who happens to be a dual-sport athlete, is headed off to play basketball at River Falls. After two visits, the first being for volleyball, it was her second visit and meeting the basketball team and coach that made her decision easy.

“I really wanted to go to River Falls,” said Anderson. “Once I got on campus, I just kind of knew that that was where I wanted to go. My first visit to River Falls was actually for volleyball. But I just kind of had that gut feeling that I wanted to play basketball and once I met the coach and the players, it all just kind of clicked and that’s what I knew I wanted to do.”

Anderson is looking forward to continuing her education aiming at a degree in elementary education.