SARAH RAUNECKER (MIDDLEBURY College class of 1992) has coached volleyball at Middlebury for 30 years and won more than 500 games. This fall her team won the NESCAC Championship and qualified for the NCAA postseason tournament, winning two games (Sweet 16) before falling to eventual champs Juniata College.
Photo credit: Will Costello

Last year, 2023, Middlebury College women’s volleyball team defeated Manhattanville College, 3-0, in Baltimore in the NCAA postseason tournament. That gave Middlebury volleyball coach Sarah Raunecker 500 wins exactly for her career at Middlebury.

500 wins! This notable achievement did not produce a parade through the town or a campus-wide celebration. It’s hard to attract special attention in women’s sports at Middlebury, given the astonishing record of success of the women’s programs, where all the teams have winning records and some win national championships (multiple times!).

Sarah has built on that 2023 success with 18 more wins this fall. Her record in her 30 years as Middlebury volleyball coach is 518-279. This fall’s team had a special season, winning the NESCAC championship as the No. 2 seed and defeating No. 1 seed Colby (undefeated in NESCAC) in Waterville, Maine, and won two games in the NCAA tournament before losing to Juniata (Pa.), the host team and ultimate national champs for the third consecutive year.

Middlebury team members have been highly decorated at the end of this season: two of Sarah’s players, senior Gabbie O’Toole (setter) and sophomore Molly Harrison (outside hitter), were named All-Americans as well as first team All-NESCAC. First-year Annabella Rando (libero) was NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year. Harrison was NESCAC Player of the Year and O’Toole was the Region 1 Player of the Year.

Coach Raunecker was the NESCAC Coach of the Year (for the fourth time). Her teams have won the NESCAC Championship six times and made eight NCAA tournament appearances (twice in the regional final, the Sweet 16).

Sarah Raunecker’s path to this coaching success was unusual. She attended Middlebury as a student, class of 1992, coming here from Portland, Indiana. She is the youngest of four in her family; her older siblings all attended East Coast schools. Basketball was her sport. She was recruited by Middlebury and Pomona but was attracted to Middlebury in her school visit.

“I knew volleyball, but I was a basketball player,” she said, looking back. “Most of the other basketball players in my high school played volleyball in the fall, but I ran cross-country.” At Middlebury, she played four years on outstanding basketball teams under Coach Amy Backus (60 wins,22 losses) and was team captain her senior year. She still plays pick-up hoop at noon.

MIDDLEBURY VOLLEYBALL COACH Sarah Raunecker and her assistant coach Brian Dunlop huddle with their team in an NCAA Tournament game this fall against Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. The Panthers won, 3-1.
Photo credit: JD Cavrich

To be a great coach, you don’t have to be a great player in that sport, but you have to be smart and diligent and in love with the sport you are coaching. You have to enjoy young people and have natural leadership skills: players have to like playing under your leadership.

Sarah Raunecker has those skills and capacities in abundance.

All-American Gabbie O’Toole has this to say about her coach: “Playing for Coach Raunecker has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Her calm demeanor, competitive energy, and steady approach has made her one of the most effective mentors I’ve had.”

And this year’s co-captain (with O’Toole), Caitlin Smith, explained that “her expectations are clear, but she also gives us a lot of space to be ourselves and learn from each other. Coach has taught me a lot about how to remain calm under pressure and see the bigger picture in every situation.”

Sarah describes her coaching values, her “philosophy” thus: “My goal is to do the best I can by our players. I want to create an atmosphere that is fun and competitive. I want them to become their best versions of themselves.”

MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE WOMEN’S Volleyball Coach Sarah Raunecker was a basketball stalwart as a student, playing on Panther teams that went 60-22 from 1988-92.
Photo credit Middlebury College Archives

About the game itself, she says: “I love coaching volleyball. Time is not an element. There’s no clock; you’re not going to run out of time. It’s the ultimate team sport. One person cannot control the ball. The rhythm of the game suits me. I’m a calm person.“

When Sarah, an environmental biology major at Middlebury, was asked what she might be doing if not coaching volleyball at Middlebury, she said, “I would be a marine biologist, or a high school science teacher, who coaches.”

Sarah and her husband Rob Alberts, local entrepreneur and longtime Middlebury assistant men’s basketball coach, have three children, born and raised in Middlebury: Lydia, a teacher at Bridge School; Lois, a senior at Macalester College; and Maxwell, a first-year at Middlebury and a member of the men’s basketball team.

Sarah’s volleyball coaching origin story at Middlebury is an interesting one. “In the summer of 1993, I was in Middlebury trying to figure out what I would do with the rest of my life, working as a teacher’s aide and long-term substitute teacher in Bridport.”

The women’s volleyball “club” at Middlebury had shown sufficient sustained interest that it was elevated to varsity status in 1994. Athletic Director Tom Lawson hired a coach and asked Sarah to be her assistant. “I handled all the administrative ‘stuff,’ the transportation, the strength and conditioning, and so on,” Sarah recalled.

The following year, “Tom asked me if I would take over the program. I was naturally concerned about my lack of experience.” She attended in the summer of ’95 a CAP (Coaching Accreditation Program) in Lake Placid.

“I took over a young team and grew with the program. I will always be indebted to Tom for giving me the opportunity, for believing in me. I love my job. I love my colleagues.”

Karen Bartlett ’95, the Associate Director of Admissions at Middlebury, was a member of Sarah’s first volleyball team. “Sarah showed up every day with energy, enthusiasm, and drills that were new to us. I never worked so hard in my life,” she said. “We had a losing season (8-20), but the wins were sweet.”

THE MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE volleyball team (in white) and the MUHS volleyball team have formed a close relationship. The high school team finished its second season as a varsity sport with an 11-3 record. There are 35 athletes in the program.
Photo credit: Amanda Young

The Middlebury team and the local MUHS girls’ volleyball team have formed a close relationship. Local physician Amanda Young’s daughter, Ronan, has been a part of the high school team since it gained varsity status two years ago.

“Sarah met with us early in our volleyball adventure to offer support,” Amanda said. “In the preseason she sends her players to our gym to meet with the high schoolers and demonstrate skills and drills to get us fired up for the fall. She values the Middlebury College connection to our community through athletics.”

Sarah affirmed, “I think it’s been a great relationship, both ways!”

Amanda is a Middlebury graduate (’94) and remembers Sarah as a fellow student: ”Sarah was my RA freshman year and was a guide for insecure youth trying to find their way.

“Time has passed but nothing has changed. She has a kind heart, and a friendly laugh ready to share with anyone who needs one.”

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Karl Lindholm can be contacted at [email protected].