Slippery Rock setter Robare named Butler County Girls Volleyball Player of the Year
SLIPPERY ROCK — Reaching 1,000 career assists is considered a solid achievement in a high school volleyball career of any length.
Doing so in two years is practically unheard of.
Slippery Rock High School senior Anora Robare pulled off such a feat, collecting 340 assists in her first year as varsity setter last season and following that up with 684 assists in this her senior season.
The latter number helped earn Robare the Butler County Girls Volleyball Player of the Year honor, named by the Butler Eagle sports staff. Seneca Valley senior middle hitter Olivia Congdon and senior setter Bria Stepp, along with Mars junior outside hitter Ella Nicotra, were also considered.
“I don’t know if those 684 assists are a school record, but if they’re not, they’re pretty darn close,” Rockets coach Brandon Ferrier said.
Robare also had 114 digs and 66 blocks this season in leading the Rockets to a 17-1 record in region play.
She was the junior varsity setter for Slippery Rock her sophomore year before forcing her way into the varsity lineup as a junior.
“We had Virginia Recchia at setter during Anora’s sophomore year and she was very good,” Ferrier said. “But I knew Anora was ready to come up and take over that spot, so we moved Virginia to libero last year. It made us a better team.”
Robare admitted she was a work in progress once she came up to varsity.
“The players are better at varsity and I had to adjust to that,” she said. “I developed a rapport with the players up front and we were able to make things happen.
“For me to get all of those assists, they had to finish plays and they did.”
Outside hitter Avalee Demidovich and Molly Bissell tallied 220 and 191 kills, respectively, while right side hitter Adison Novad had 128 kills.
“I’m very proud and excited to be recognized like this,” Robare said.
A volleyball player since seventh grade, Robare has also run cross country and track at Slippery Rock. She comes from a family of athletes.
Her mother, Rebekah Robare, played volleyball at Indiana (Pa.) University. Her older brother, Anthony, runs cross country and track as a freshman at Slippery Rock University. Younger brother Liam is a sophomore cross country runner at Slippery Rock High School and younger sister Lylah, 12, plays volleyball.
“Coming from an athletic family has definitely helped me,” Anora said. “We’re all active all of the time. We play volleyball in the backyard. Just doing that helps to sharpen your skills.”
Mrs. Robare said she is “extremely proud of how Anora has elevated her game over the past year. She’s been to a camp, played summer club volleyball and has really worked on her setting.”
Ferrier mentioned that Robare has picked up on “jump setting” and “continually added to her game.”
She will do more of that next season at Butler County Community College, where Robare will play volleyball for two years before hopefully moving on to a four-year school in Division II.
“That’s the plan,” Robare said. “I know I need to keep developing my skill-set and BC3 will help me with that.”
Ferrier agreed.
“(BC3’s) Rob Snyder is a great coach and knows how to get the most of his players,” the Slippery Rock coach said. “Anora will really benefit from playing for him.”
