Most college kids take full advantage of their summer break to relax, travel and enjoy two months off from the stressful life of being a university student.
One would think full-time student-athletes would want extra time.
But the ASU volleyball team’s sophomore tandem, outside hitter Sarah Reaves and middle blocker Sara Todorovich, did just the opposite.
Instead of sitting poolside, taking in the warm Arizona sun, the duo spent its summer working.
They would wake up early on the weekends to serve the famous Grand Slam entrées at Denny’s.
“We needed jobs. We needed to pay the rent, so we chose Denny’s.” Todorovich said. “It was fun. ”
Todorovich and Reaves quickly became best friends in 2007 as freshmen when they were suitemates in the dorms. The two now live together off campus.
"I was very close with my family so moving away [from Washington] was pretty difficult for me,” Todorovich said. “But Sarah was always there for me and soon enough I started to become really close with her."
In addition to working at the famous breakfast joint on the weekends, the two found themselves up at the crack of dawn during the week to condition for the upcoming volleyball season. They also coached at ASU’s volleyball camp.
The pair stayed with fourth through 12th graders in the dorms for the duration of the two-week camp.
“We had no hot water in the dorms so we had to struggle through cold showers, and our toilets didn’t work,” Reaves said. “It was rough, but it was definitely fun looking back.”
Todorovich’s recollections are not as rosy.
“Those two weeks were hard,” she said. “By the end of the day I was so beat I just wanted to go to bed.”
But throughout their hectic and tiresome summer schedules, the two friends became even closer.
“I spent every waking moment of my life last summer with her, and I grew even closer to her than I already was,” Todorovich said. “I don’t even count her as one of my friends anymore. She’s my sister now.”
Reach the reporter at ryan.campbell@asu.edu.
