When one drives into the southwest Kansas community of Ulysses, there is a green sign indicating that it's the hometown of Sarah Noriega – USA Women's Olympic volleyball player in 2000.

It's not often one high school student-athlete from this area of Kansas could draw so much notice for the accomplishments she made after high school graduation in 1994.

But that is how the life of Sarah (Noriega) Sulentor began back in the late 1980s when she became intrigued, then more interested, and eventually fell in love with the sport of volleyball.

It didn't hurt that she was always tall, and in her own words a little "gangly," when she reached middle school age.

But she eventually grew into her 6-foot-2-inch frame, and with a left-handed skill that few volleyball players possess, went on a career path that took her from Ulysses to collegiate powerhouse Loyola-Marymount (California) and years later landed her on the USA Volleyball team that participated in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Sulentor's stellar career, and then later involvement with USA Volleyball, made her a natural fit for the KSHSAA 50-For-50 profiles that will help celebrate the half-century of the landmark Title IX legislation.

"I think when you're 14, 15, and 16 years old and playing sports, that's all you're focused on," said Sulentor, now a mother of two and living in Palos Verdes, Calif. "I think I just assumed at the time it was a normal thing for the girls to be playing sports because it had been that way when I was young."

It would be years later that Noriega became acutely aware of just what Title IX had meant for the introduction of girls and women's sports at the high school and collegiate levels.

"In college I was more aware of it (Title IX) because of my scholarship and I was able to learn more about it," Sulentor said. "After I graduated from Loyola-Marymount (1994), that's when I learned the most. I learned so much about the funding for the sport, the program itself and the nuances that it brought to give women an opportunity to compete."

Her collegiate school didn't play football so the volleyball program became one of the major sports at the California school.

"From the federal level, I think one begins to be aware of the importance of Title IX because it paved the way for all of us to be able to play sports," Sulentor said.

 When she moved into the high school volleyball ranks in 1991, Title IX of the Education Amendment was already nearly 20 years old. Like many teenagers, all she was aware of is that she and others like her had the opportunity to play and compete.

"At that age you're pretty much oblivious to those kinds of things," said Sulentor, who now resides in Palos Verdes, Calif., along with her husband, Joe, and their two children – daughter Ava, age 8, and son James, age 3. "You're just not aware of the legislation that was passed long before you were playing. You don't realize it until years later."

Her career in the sport had an inauspicious start in her seventh grade season with no developed skills.

"Everything was new, and I wasn't very good at first," she said. "I was a tall, skinny, uncoordinated girl and played on the C team and was barely playing."

She transformed into a better player by staying after practice almost every day to develop her skills, and the hard work paid off.

Her high school coach, Courtney Eslick, once described Sulentor as the best volleyball/athlete he had coached, and to no one's surprise the program at Ulysses blossomed during her high school career.

Highlighting that time was her junior year when the Lady Tigers qualified for the Class 4A state tournament, posted a 2-1 record in pool play but didn't qualify for the final four the next day. The program was honored that year with a statewide Program award.

The improvement in her game opened up a new world of opportunities she could never have envisioned.  She was invited to participate on a club volleyball team in the central Kansas town of Great Bend.

"They asked if I was interested, so we began driving there every weekend for practices and also in the summer months," Sulentor said. "There was a big improvement in my game and that was the ticket then and still is to get exposure to the college coaches."

It just so happened that Great Bend also is the home to Barton Community College, a two-year school whose coach at the time was Ray Bechard (now the head coach at the University of Kansas).

"He saw me play and told me once that as much as he would love to have me playing for him at Barton, I was way beyond that level of player," Sulentor recalled. "He was the one who told me I could play at the highest levels."

That motivation and exposure from club tournaments, including competing in the Junior Nationals, allowed Sulentor to be recruited by many of the nation's elite programs, such as the University of Texas, and of course, Loyola Marymount in California.

Once she had made her decision for college, it was all aboard the volleyball train. Her team at Loyola Marymount won three consecutive West Coast Conference championships, earning her a first-team all-WCC honor each year. In 1997, her senior season, she was voted the WCC Player of the Year. Additionally, she was named to the NCAA All-America first team.

Upon ending her collegiate career, Sulentor moved on to the USA Volleyball team before returning to her hometown and serving as a volleyball coach. But she decided she didn't have the same passion in that role as she did playing the sport.

Opportunities became realities as she was invited to the 2000 Olympic tryouts by a coach who had recruited her from high school to play at Texas. He was then the U.S. Women's Olympic team coach for the Sydney Olympics event. She made the team and helped that group earn a fourth-place finish, just outside the medal placing.

"It was the experience of a lifetime," Sulentor recalled. "When you have the opportunity to play at the highest level, it's something you just don't forget, and you make lifetime friends with the people around you."

The landmark Title IX legislation allowed the introduction of sports such as softball, soccer, swimming, tennis, golf, and of course, volleyball.

"There were a lot of opportunities for scholarships in what was then described as 'smaller or minor' sports," she said. "Then, beach volleyball became a college sport. In California, volleyball was like the Mecca of volleyball. They were starting girls at age 8 and everywhere you looked, there were volleyball courts and people playing."

She competed for another 10 years following her final year of eligibility at Loyola Marymount. She also played in the fall in a professional league in Italy for two years, Istanbul, Turkey, for one year and Puerto Rico for two more years.

Eventually, she retired, coached in her hometown and then served on the Board of Directors of USA Volleyball for seven years. She then transitioned into serving on the organization's foundation, which served as the fund-raising arm to support grass roots programs across the country.

"I think when I look back, it just felt like the right thing to do and I was interested in getting involved at that level," said Sulentor of her years of volunteering for the national group. "You learn so much about how these national groups work and how they can influence programs at the local level, too. I'm so grateful for Title IX because it allowed me to learn how to navigate the system not just for myself but for other young women."

In 2008, she served as the athlete liaison or advocate for the entire athletic delegation at the Beijing, China Olympics. Later, she moved into the private business world, focusing on the health care field for a group purchasing organization. She once entertained the possibility of going into pre-med, but felt it was too demanding. Now, she has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology.
But for the past four years she has been the stay-at-home mom for her two children.

"The biggest reward I have now is to see my children grow," she said. "They're not so much involved with sports as I was, but that's okay, too. Everyone needs to find the things they enjoy."
She said her biggest lessons were the result of volleyball being a team sport.

"You work together and you learn how to do things that are greater than yourself," she said. "You contribute to something bigger. You set goals, you have a chance for personal growth and in the real world a person has to have the same skills. You learn and take those lessons and put them into positive practice with your work and life. I think that's why sports are critical to developing young people."

From that youthful middle school gangly athlete trying to find her way to just being able to play, Sulentor found the motivation, the encouragement and the hard work to reach the highest level of her sport.

"I'm just so grateful for all the opportunities that were afforded me," she said. "I can't imagine my life without all the things I was able to experience. I hope every young girl and young woman will continue to have those opportunities."

We are grateful to partner with WIN for KC, an organization with the mission to empower the lives of girls and women by advocating and promoting the lifetime value of sports through opportunities for participation and leadership development. WIN for KC and the KSHSAA believe involvement in activities and sports lay the ground work for supporting well-rounded citizens in our communities and beyond. For more on WIN for KC visit: https://www.sportkc.org/win-for-kc