Each month Collier County Public Schools select district high school All-Stars to recognize for being leaders on and off the field of play or for being up-and-rising stars. The Naples Daily News will sit down with some of these student-athletes so you can meet the county's honorees.
Ava Zehnder is a senior on the indoor and beach volleyball teams at Barron Collier. Zehnder, a four-year varsity indoor player, has helped the Cougars to two state runner-up finishes in Class 5A, while also leading beach volleyball to a district championship this season. Zehnder holds the indoor records for assists in a season (898) and career assists (2,334), all while holding a 5.21 weighted GPA. The Naples Daily News sat down with Zehnder to learn more about her.
Question: What's been your favorite memory at Barron Collier?
Zehnder: My favorite memory at Barron was probably the trip to states for our indoor season this year, since we had to be up there for both the semifinals and finals game we got to stay in a hotel with our team, which was a lot of fun. And we did a lot of fun things during our off time, it was fun to spend a lot of time with the team before leaving them next year.
What's an athletic accomplishment you're most proud of?
Zehnder: Probably making it to states two years in a row. I feel like volleyball is very competitive in Florida, so making it that far was like a really big accomplishment because there's so many good teams. So you know your team has good chemistry and you guys are really good if you can make it just out of like regionals, and then to make it to state. So that's a really big thing.
Talk about a challenge you overcame as an athlete .
Zehnder: The week before the start of junior year, I broke my hand, which took me out of the whole regular season and I came back for districts I think. That was hard because being in the cast for so long, it was hard to like get it moving again so I could get back into playing and it was scary, but I did it and we ended up going to states that year.
What's something you've learned while being on two different teams that has helped you outside of sports?
Zehnder: I would say time management is a really big one. Right now, I still have club volleyball and beach. It teaches you good communication with your coaches. I have to communicate with each coach when I'm going to be there and when I'm not. And also figuring out when to do my homework and work outside of those sports.
What advice would you give to incoming varsity athletes?
Zehnder: I would say not to be scared, and to enjoy it. Because the competition is a lot of fun and it's never good to play scared. If you play how you play then you'll do great.
Do you listen to music pregame?
Zehnder: I never listen to my own music, I never have headphones in or anything. But if it's in a car ride I'm never on aux, I'll always give it to someone else. So I don't really need music to like hype me up. Like once I'm there, I'm there.
What do you like to eat before a game?
Zehnder: If it's an early game, I won't eat, I can't eat before game. But if it's later in the day, ahead of time, my go-to meal is avocado toast.
What was your favorite class or subject?
Zehnder: My favorite class is probably psychology, which I took last year. I think it was a lot of fun learning about the way people think and how things affect other things and stuff like that.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Collier County All-Stars: Get to know Barron Collier volleyball's Ava Zehnder
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