After being courted by numerous colleges and universities, Belmont secondary’s top front-court player has announced her intention to attend and play post-secondary volleyball in B.C.
Though still not quite finished her Grade 11 year, Purdy has verbally committed to Trinity Western University in Langley, starting with the 2018-19 season. The Spartans won Canadian university bronze this year, after winning silver in 2016 and gold in 2015.
“I’m extremely excited and it’s also a relief to know where I want to go,” she said.
This talented power hitter visited campuses in San Diego and Portland before touring Simon Fraser, UBC, Thompson Rivers and Trinity Western universities.
“As I got farther into the process, I narrowed it down to the B.C. schools,” she said. “When I went on my tour (to TWU), I just felt really welcomed there. It felt like home and it felt like a place where I could keep improving on the court.”
While her decision was confirmed earlier this month, she wanted to wait to tell people until after the club nationals, where her Victoria Volleyball Association side reached the quarter-finals.
Purdy has been racking up team and individual honours since arriving at Belmont. She led her team to the Grade 10 provincial title in 2015, grabbing tournament most valuable player honours along the way, and duplicated both feats at the senior girls level last December.
In club play, she’s been part of a VVA age-group team that has won B.C. gold the past three seasons, with Purdy earning MVP honours the past two.
She was also recently named to the U-18 Canada Summer Games B.C. team and will represent the province this August in Winnipeg.
Belmont and VVA coach Mike Toakley is also excited for Purdy and noted her talents are across the board.
“Savannah not only excels on the court or beach, but in the classroom as well where she has a 90 per cent average and is an honour roll student,” he said. “Savannah may well be followed in accepting such a scholarship by several of her teammates either later this year or next.”
While she anticipates another successful year in her final season of high school play next fall and club play next winter, Purdy’s mind has already shifted to beach play, in which she has also excelled provincially in recent years.
Practise is set to begin on the sand courts this Wednesday at Juan de Fuca, weather permitting.
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