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Sarah Noriega

Address: East and west Edges of Ulysses on U.S. 160
Ulysses, KS 67880

About this Exploration:

Two green highway signs on the east and west edges of town adorn her name: “Home of Sarah Noriega, U.S. Volleyball Olympian.”

Yes, Ulysses was proud to be represented in the 2000 Sydney Olympics by Ms. Noriega as she was a member of the 4th place USA Women’s Volleyball Team.

 

How did the self-proclaimed “small-town transplant” become an eight-year USA volleyball member and play on the international stage? Noriega believes she “couldn’t have done it with out the residents of Ulysses.”

 

When she was in high school playing for a statewide volleyball club, she was “forced [by her parents] to go out to the local businesses and ask for a tax deductible donation to the team so I could play,” she says.  “So, essentially, without the generosity of the local businesses, I literally would not have been able to play volleyball, gain the necessary experience and exposure to play in college and eventually play on the USA National Team.”

 

Sarah’s favorite memories of Ulysses include a two-year stint from 2005-2007 back home when she as able to “spend time with her family, bring my ‘big city’ friends to Ulysses, and go to the movies and the Grant County Fair,” she said.

 

Today, Sarah lives and works in Los Angeles and wed her college sweetheart in March 2010.

 

So when you come to Ulysses on U.S. 160, make sure and notice the green signs recognizing the diligence and talent of Sarah Noriega and the support of a rural western town.