Brooklyn Cohen is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Notre Dame Prep for AZPreps365.com

For the Svorinic family, volleyball runs in their blood. The four Svorinic sisters played at Notre Dame Prep, and there was at least one Svorinic on the team from 2004 to 2014. Sarah, Stephanie, Ali, and Victoria all donned the Saints uniform and took the court throughout that 11-year stretch. 

Ali, the second-youngest, returned to Notre Dame Prep 11 years after she left, and is now at the helm of the program she once played for. 

“It's just a pretty surreal thing.” Ali Svorinic said. “It's just very special. I think it's a pretty unique opportunity, especially having three of my siblings go through it and being a part of the program at the very beginning as a spectator, then going through as a player, and now coming back as a coach.” 

A four-year letterwinner on varsity, Ali was an outside hitter at the beginning of her career before transitioning to setter and opposite her sophomore and junior years. By the time she reached her senior year, she primarily set for the Saints, and eventually went on to set at the collegiate level. 

While at Notre Dame Prep, Ali got the opportunity to play with two of her sisters. She spent her freshman year with Stephanie, who was a senior at the time, and her junior and senior years with Victoria, who was a freshman and then sophomore. 

Ali Svorinic (left) and Victoria Svorinic in 2012. (Photo courtesy of Ali Svorinic)

“[Ali] and I have always been extremely close,” Victoria Svorinic said. “Being able to fight for the same goal, we were always very motivated in our sport and in our personal lives, but to be able to have one common goal and just to work hard and go at it together, I think it definitely brought us closer. It was just a very cool thing to be able to do together.”

The youngest Svorinic sisters grew up watching their older sisters play volleyball, so it was natural for them to follow in Sarah’s and Stephanie’s footsteps. 

“Ali and I, being the youngest, were always in the gym, like little gym rats, just barefoot, running around,” Victoria said. “So to finally be able to play on the same team was just the best.”

Victoria also recalls a particular play in which she and Ali crashed into each other trying to get to a ball, and the two of them ended up on the ground laughing. 

“There was a ball, I was left back, she was right back,” Victoria said. “We dove for the ball. We didn't get the ball up, but we hugged as we were getting the ball, and we just laid there for a second. Everyone's like, all right, guys, next play. But we just thought it was so funny. Just like being able to be on the same team, compete together, be on the court together, there weren't very many opportunities for that throughout our whole playing career, so it was just amazing.”

During her senior year, Ali was named co-captain of the Saints, along with her fellow senior Genevieve Pirrote. 

“She was definitely a natural leader, somebody who would rally the team and others would follow,” legendary volleyball coach James Felton said.  Felton coached Ali her senior year, but also knew her before that through club volleyball, as Felton was Victoria’s coach at the same club Ali played at. 

Throughout her career at Notre Dame Prep, Ali collected multiple recognitions and awards. She was an All-State Honorable Mention in 2010, team MVP in 2010 and 2011, and All-State Second Team selection in 2011 and 2012.

During her senior season, 2012, the Saints finished the season 22-2, were ranked No. 2 in Division 2, and No. 5 overall in Arizona. 

After high school, Ali went to Colorado Mesa University, where she was a member of the indoor volleyball and beach volleyball team for four years. 

While in Colorado, she accumulated 2,123 career assists and 405 digs. Her single-game career high in assists was 64, a mark she set in 2016 during her senior year. 

Ali Svorinic (middle row, far left) celebrates with her team at Colorado Mesa after winning the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament in 2014. (Photo courtesy of Ali Svorinic)

After she graduated, Ali originally planned to continue her education and become a physician’s assistant. However, she decided to give coaching a try, and found that her passion was in spreading her love for volleyball. She started out coaching at the club level and made her way to Victorium, where she worked her way up the coaching ladder and eventually became the club’s director. During the past summer, she took the job coaching at her alma mater. 

Felton wasn’t surprised to hear that his former player had turned to coaching and has come back to Notre Dame Prep. 

“Her family was so into volleyball that it seemed natural that any one of them would do it.” Felton said. “She has such a huge presence there, and was such an integral part of Notre Dame's history and volleyball history. That just seems natural that she would be coaching there.”

Victoria also noted how perfect it is that Ali returned to coach at Notre Dame Prep. 

“She embodies everything that the program should be and what they strive to be,”  Victoria said. “And I think there's no better person to lead them, one, just be successful on the court, but also it's so much bigger than volleyball. All those different life lessons, and just being able to become a team of really strong, confident young women that feel prepared to take on different challenges in life.”

At Notre Dame Prep, the main goal for Ali’s team is to win a state championship. But for Ali, the goal is to build strong young girls and continue passing down the traditions of the program. 

“Trying to keep prayer and faith is always very important,” Ali said. “There’s always been a tradition with that, so that was crucial. And [the team’s] routines of pregame and everything has been the same, even when they're getting into a huddle on the court, what is being said was said 10-plus, 15 years ago. So I think that's been pretty cool. We've talked about ‘do you want to keep certain things going,’ they’re like, ‘yeah, if you did this,’ and I say, ‘well, I did that, and we learned that from years before us.’”

Ali Svorinic leads her team in prayer prior to a match during the 2024 season. (Photo courtesy of Ali Svorinic)

Ali wants to continue the winning tradition that has defined much of the program’s history and make the Notre Dame Prep girls volleyball program a place of joy and happiness for everyone involved. 

“I want to make sure that [the players] have a positive experience and they can look back and they always feel a part of the program,” Ali said.