KARNS CITY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Ava Fox laughed as she peered down at the piece of paper set in front of her.
The Karns City senior gripped a pen in her right hand and laughed.
“What am I supposed to do?” she asked, giggling again.
“Sign your name,” said Nicole, Ava’s mother and an assistant volleyball coach at Karns City.
Ava scoffed.
“My signature is horrible,” Ava said, laughing again.
Lucky for Ava Fox, her volleyball game is anything but ghastly.
(Pictured above, Karns City senior Ava Fox signs her national letter of intent to play volleyball at La Roche University on Wednesday evening.)
Able to do just about anything on the floor — from attack, block, set, dig and serve — Fox was a sought after commodity by college coaches in the area.
Late this summer, Fox decided she would play at La Roche University in Pittsburgh and signed her national letter of intent on Wednesday night at the high school, a bedazzled black, red and white Redhawk volleyball next to her.
“I visited there and I just really liked it,” Fox said of La Roche, which was one of several schools she considered. “I wanted to go to (Indiana University of Pennsylvania). That was my second choice and Washington & Jefferson was another one. But I liked La Roche so much.”
Fox also played softball for a time, but gave up that sport to focus solely on volleyball.
That extra work has paid big dividends for the versatile 5-foot-10 star.
Her older sister, Ashley, shined as both a softball and volleyball player during her time at Karns City. Ashley chose to play softball at the next level and has excelled at Gannon University.
Ava Fox wanted to carve out her own path. Volleyball was that road she happily took.
“I played with (Ashley) my entire life, so it was nice to finally have my own thing,” Fox said. “I wanted something for myself and decided to put all of my work into volleyball. I started club volleyball my sophomore year and it’s been kind of all year round since then.”
Fox leads Karns City this season in kills, digs and service aces. She added a jump serve last year — the last piece to her eclectic skill set.
First year coach Taylor Mazzaferro has relied heavily on Fox to fill just about every role on the court.
Fox has played middle and outside at various times this season. She never comes off the floor. La Roche sees her as a right side hitter.
“She definitely was an asset to our team playing middle and then outside and then back to middle,” Mazzaferro said. “She can play all six positions. We can definitely count on her jump serve and she’s definitely someone we can look to get the ball to to keep the point going or to get the point in the end.”
What impressed Mazzaferro the most about Fox was her passion for the game.
Fox wears her emotions on the sleeve of her purple and gold volleyball jersey.
“You can see the joy every time she steps on the court,” Mazzaferro said. “She’s excited to be there and wants to be there and wants to get the ball rolling. It’s definitely exciting to see her move on to college volleyball, doing something she loves.”
It’s that love that keeps Fox from getting burned out on the sport through the grind of month after month of jumping, diving and swinging on the volleyball court.
Fox wouldn’t want it any other way.
“It’s kind of an outlet for me,” she said. “It makes me happy. It helps me take my mind off of things.”
Fox plans on studying forensic science at La Roche. It’s a field she has long been interested in.
“All those times watching crime TV shows,” Fox said, chuckling. “They’re a bit glorified, but I looked into it and it’s something I think I will really like.”
With the major decisions of where she will play and what she will study at the next level made, Fox has felt the stress drain out of her.
She can enjoy the rest of her senior year now.
Even if putting her signature on paper proved to be a bit vexing.
“I feel the pressure is just gone,” Fox said, smiling. “It’s definitely a relief.”
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