Blessed Trinity volleyball senior Amber MacDonald is the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Girls Athlete of the Week due to her determination and talent on the court.
At 12-years old, MacDonald’s mother was approached by a Bob Westbrook, the founder of A5 Volleyball Club in Roswell and said to be the “father of volleyball in Georgia”, at a local volleyball tournament and who said he wanted to train her daughter to be a libero.
“Our family was new to volleyball, so I was probably the only person in the gym who didn’t know Bob Westbrook,” said MacDonald’s mother. “But when he told me he saw a fire in Amber that made her stand out on the court, I could tell he was serious.”
Now, five years later MacDonald is one of the top ranked liberos in the nation and has verbally committed to the University of Wisconsin, one of the top volleyball programs in the nation.
“It hasn’t been an easy road, but I love to train and play,” said MacDonald, who is always looking to improve. Her love for the game, hard work, talented teammates and dedicated coaches are the reason MacDonald says she has been so successful. “No matter how good you are as a libero, you don’t get noticed unless you play on great teams,” said the Lady Titan. “I’ve been very fortunate to play with talented teammates and for supportive coaches in both high school and club.”
MacDonald’s true passion for volleyball came her 14’s season from A5 coach Suzanne Fitzgerald, who is a former marine. “Coach Suzanne taught me the incredible power of working hard with my team and for my team,” said MacDonald.
Blessed Trinity head coach Paul Stevens has led his team to two state championships in MacDonald’s four years as a Titan. “She is best defensive player I’ve ever coached, who has the rare ability to control a match from the back row,” said Stevens. “She has obliterated the school records for career digs and aces, and recently became only the second player ever in Georgia to surpass 2,000 career digs.”
Over the last three years, MacDonald has earned 16 individual national rankings. She was ranked as one of the top two liberos in the nation in her age group seven times and ranked as the No. 1 libero in her age group in the nation three times. Most recently, MacDonald was named a USA Today Preseason All-American, and the only libero in the country on the MaxPreps National Volleyball Player of the Year Watch List.
“The training and support I have received from Blessed Trinity and A5 has given me so many wonderful opportunities,” said the star libero. “I want to build on that foundation and continue to improve so that I can help both my A5 18’s team this spring and the University of Wisconsin next fall win National Championships.”
MacDonald and her Blessed Trinity teammates have now advanced into the semifinals of Class AAA for the fifth year in a row and will host Oconee County at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
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