Garvin earns volleyball scholarship

Local athlete Sean Garvin has been offered a full scholarship to play volleyball at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, a junior college ranked third nationally in volleyball with a history of winning championships and sending athletes to play at the National Collegiate Athletics Association level.

Garvin was a 12-year Lake Roosevelt student, the youngest of three children to 1992 LR graduates Shawn and Kasey Garvin. She was a four-year varsity letterman in volleyball, as well as captain those four years, making first team four times in the all-league selection and winning the Most Valuable Player accolade her senior year. She was also a three-year letterman in softball at LRHS, making the first-team all-league selection two years and second team once.

Garvin has also played club volleyball in Spokane and Wenatchee.

An ACL and meniscus injury her senior year led Western Washington University to retract their offer of a scholarship to Garvin, a disappointment to say the least.

Garvin recovered from her injury, having undergone physical therapy in Spokane.

"Not willing to let go of her dream to play collegiate volleyball, she sent out last-minute emails and videos mid-July to Division I, Junior Colleges and received multiple offers," said Kasey Garvin, her mother and her coach while in high school. "She ultimately decided to accept a full scholarship offer to play for the third nationally ranked College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, ID."

CSI has won 11 championships since 1993 and has a long list of players moving on to the NCAA level. "Sean is officially a Golden Eagle and is allowed to be a part of that legacy and assist CSI volleyball on their road back to Nationals this fall," Kasey said.

"I am extremely proud of Sean (Sissy)," her mother/coach continued. "She has been working toward this goal since I put a volleyball in her hands at the age of 4. Her brothers were avid athletes, and Sean spent the majority of her childhood in gyms and on fields. She was her brothers' opposition in the backyard, racking up scars they inflicted on her so they could make a goal, or a basket, or home run; she learned love, humility and sacrifice at a very young age."

"Sean has a high volleyball IQ and the athletic ability to play at any level," Kasey said, adding that Sean being a left-handed setter is something that defenders struggle with. "She has excellent peripheral vision and can see where blockers are at while she's setting the ball."

Kasey also commended Sean's footwork, hand speed, and ability to locate where her team's hitters are, as well as where the other team's blockers are, among other skills that help in the sport.

Sean Garvin leaves for the Twin Falls campus today, Aug. 1.