Sara McCreary, a 5-foot-10 setter out of Edmonton, will join Steve Manuel's UBC Okanagan Heat for the 2016-17 Canada West volleyball season.

A standout at Jasper Place High School, McCreary was an all-star at the Edmonton city championships in both 2015 and 2016.

As a club volleyball player with the Pandas program, she was twice named a provincial all-star while playing with the U18 team.

In 2016, McCreary and the Pandas won a bronze medal at the U18 nationals.

Aside from volleyball, McCreary competes at a high level in other sports.

This year, she earned second place finish in the ASAA Olympic Lifting Competition, and third place in the High School CrossFit Games.

Having competed on a number of national stages, with success at many of those, Sara had her pick of a number of different schools and programs.

鈥淚 chose UBCO because of how awesome the team dynamic is,鈥� said McCreary who will be enrolled in the Human Kinetics program. 鈥淓veryone is super supportive and it鈥檚 just a really enjoyable environment to be part of. On top of that they are a very competitive team in CIS and have a great coaching staff.鈥�

鈥淚 am really excited to come to UBC Okanagan this fall. I am counting down the days until I get to become a part of the Heat.鈥�

Heat head coach Steve Manuel is impressed both by McCreary's skill level and enthusiasm for the game.

鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 be happier to welcome Sara to our Heat program," Manuel said. I鈥檝e been watching her play for several years now and have always been impressed with her level of compete.

鈥淢y feeling from watching her play was that she was a hard worker and a strong leader, along with being a great player."