Sarah Ammerman kept a list of items to console herself with in her mind as the Aggie volleyball team watched the NCAA Tournament selection show. She wanted to be ready if Texas A&M got left on the outside looking in -- again.
"I told myself before the show, even if we didn't make it for whatever reason, I knew that we deserved to be there, so it would be for some other reason that couldn't be explained," Ammerman said. "I told myself I would be happy with what I've produced this season, what I've done here in my career. Yes it would be incredibly disappointing not to be a part of it ever, to experience it, but I would have been able to move on. I put myself in that mind."
It was a great sales job Ammerman gave herself.
Volleyball is so much of her and her family's life that not making the Tournament, especially after thinking the Aggies would get a berth in each of the two previous years, would have been difficult to digest. But she was able to throw away the mental list about half way through the selection show, when A&M's name popped up on the screen in the top half of the Omaha Regional.
"This is something I've wanted since Day 1 when I stepped on campus, to get into the Tournament," Ammerman said. "Going through three selection shows without A&M going has been really hard. Actually seeing our name on the screen was pretty surreal and a very, very exciting moment for us."
By "us," the 6-foot-2 outside hitter obviously meant her A&M teammates. But she also could've meant her family -- mom, dad, six younger siblings and one older brother who, until this week, had been Sarah's only connection with the NCAA Tournament.
Just six months ago, Ryan Ammerman was the MVP of the men's NCAA Tournament final as the setter in UC-Irvine's five-game victory over Southern California.
Sarah was in the stands cheering her brother on while also pondering what it must be like to be a part of such an event. Their roles had reversed, for until that season, Ryan had been the envious one as he'd watched Sarah enjoy a four-year career as a starter at A&M.
"Because he had a chance to achieve it in the manner he did as she played and he was on the sideline [his first two years], for her to sit back and watch was almost a dream," Sarah's mother Maria said. "She did say it encourages her to want to go out and do the same thing even more because she saw it come true for him. Just the ability to share the battles, the good times, it kind of feeds the fuel to continue to inspire each other."
Sarah soaked in the scene of the national championship and how her brother led Irvine to the title.
"This is the real deal, and this is where I want to be. This is what I want to do," Sarah says she remembers thinking while watching her brother in the title match.
Volleyball has been foremost on Sarah's mind nearly her entire life from the time she started watching both parents and her brother play at a high level. Her passion for the game grew out of seeing how much they enjoyed playing.
Sarah has carried that love and competitiveness over to A&M and coach Laurie Corbelli's program, where her diligent work ethic has earned her first-team All-Big 12 honors and berths on U.S. national teams.
"She's by far the player who most often comes to watch video, review scout sheets, ask for team meetings, ask for coaches meetings, ask for captain meetings," Corbelli said. "She's puts in a lot of extra time that is not asked of the players, and that's really special."
Friday's first-round match against Arizona will be Sarah's 112th start at A&M. On the all-time A&M list, she is third in career points with 1,665 and has 1,476 kills, one shy of fifth among Aggies. She needs three more digs to join the 1,000 club in that category.
Ryan and Sarah are not the only Ammerman's having success on the volleyball court.
Sarah's twin brothers, Luke and Dalton, have both followed in Ryan's footsteps and left Parker, Colo., for California. Luke is at a community college and on his way to UC-Irvine while Dalton could see playing time at Long Beach State as a freshman.
The siblings constantly keep up with each other.
Dalton traveled from California to be with Sarah for her final home game last weekend. It was something not overlooked by Sarah and her parents, who have come to expect such camaraderie among their eight children, four of whom still live at home.
"I'd be lying if I said I can't keep my buttons on my shirt," Sarah's father Brett said. "I love it that the kids are closer [because of volleyball], that they feed off of each other in competitions whether in the front yard or at state championships or NCAAs. They support each other to the 'nth' degree."
After graduation, Sarah again hopes to follow in her older brother's footsteps and play professionally overseas. Sarah has some connections through the group that took A&M on its European Tour two summers ago. She hasn't delved into it too much yet but plans to.
Beach volleyball is also an option, although Sarah said that sport is much harder to break into and make a living at. She's hoping her brother may open a few doors to help her make it happen.
"I can't ever imagine getting sick of it," Sarah said. "I want to play as long as my body will let me. I love it so much, I don't ever see myself getting sick of it."
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NOTES -- Sarah Ammerman wanted to be a setter like her brother but was cut from her first tryout with a club team. She later made the team as a setter, with the idea that she would be moved to outside hitter. ... Ammerman has been teammates with three of Arizona's players. Setter Paige Weber and right side Whitney Dosty were on the USA Volleyball A2 team with Ammerman and Courtney Karst was on her club team. Karst also played high school volleyball with A&M setter Kristen Schevikhoven. ... Ammerman's high school team Chaparral went to the state finals in her senior season after having never made the playoffs.
What: Opening round of NCAA Women's Div. I Volleyball Tournament
Who: Texas A&M (18-10) vs. Arizona (19-10)
When: 5 p.m., Friday
Where: Maravich Assembly Center, on the LSU campus.
Next: Winner plays winner of LSU-Tulane match at 7:30 p.m., Saturday