Tahlequah High School senior Emma Sherron has played volleyball for the past six years including several years of playing the club volleyball circuit and she plays a position usually reserved for the tallest girls on the squad-outside hitter.

“The hardest part of the position is having the volleyball IQ to be able to read the court while you’re in the air and know where you need to place the ball to win the point,” said Emma.

Another factor that Emma has had to overcome is her height. At 5-7, she’s had to work extra hard on getting that needed leap to make the big hit.

“I’ve worked real hard in and outside of school to improve my vertical leap and being knowledgeable about where to hit the ball also helps me compensate for not being the tallest.”

Emma also plays soccer for the Lady Tigers and while the two sports wouldn’t seem to have a lot in common, leadership is something that is required on both teams.

“Being a leader is being able to take charge and stepping up when you see someone needing help. I try to encourage my teammates if they make a mistake because if one person gets down on themselves it can affect the whole team.”

Asked to describe herself in three words, Sherron answered compassionate, hardworking and adverse with compassion being the top trait for her.

“Compassionate is the most important of those and I do that by trying to understand other people and being able to help all those in need that I can.”

School pride is also high on Emma’s list of things to do right as she settles into her senior year.

“Being a Tahlequah Tiger all my life gives me a great sense of pride and it’s something I hope I have lived up to.”

Emma says she would like to play volleyball on the college level and has had some preliminary discussions with a few schools and says she would probably study biology or something in the science field.

“Science is my favorite subject because I’m just a very curious person,” said Emma.

When she crosses the stage at graduation next spring, Emma Sherron has some thoughts on her legacy at THS.

“I want to leave a very positive footprint with those that I’ve been associated with in and out of athletics and be the kind of person that others would say they looked up to.”