She is as comfortable with a racquet in her hands as she is a soccer ball at her feet.
On the basketball court, she was a terror on opposing ball handlers and unafraid to step out and hit the big shot when needed.
She is Sierra High senior Stephanie Vanni, the Bulletin’s 2010-11 Female Athlete of the Year.
Vanni is the epitome of an all-around athlete, one whose versatility in any sport she plays stands out as her biggest asset.
The bottom line, though, is that the San Francisco State-bound Vanni was successful in every athletic endeavor in her high school career. This past year she was a part of three postseason teams, one of which earned a Sac-Joaquin Section title, and was named the Bulletin’s top player in the area in two sports.
In the fall, Vanni was one of the key members of the Valley Oak League’s runner-up girls tennis team.
Coming off a junior season in which she and then-senior Jena Anderson went undefeated en route to the VOL doubles championship, Vanni was fully capable of joining Ann McFerran and Vannida Nguyen to assemble a formidable singles ladder for Sierra.
She was instead paired with doubles veteran Maryann Baker, and together they mounted a run that was a win away from matching the success of the Vanni-Anderson tandem of a year ago.
Baker and Vanni cruised through the regular season and the opening day of the VOL Doubles Tournament. But in the final round they met their match: Sonora’s “super doubles” team of Brianne McRee and Brielle Snyder, the Wildcats’ No. 1 and 2 singles players who failed to advance to the SJS Division II playoff tournament as individuals.
Sierra was ultimately eliminated in the first round of the SJS Team Tournament, and in the individual tournament both Nguyen and the Vanni-Baker duo fell in their opening matches.
But Vanni and Baker’s accomplishments were not ignored, as they shared the Bulletin’s All-Area Girls Tennis Player of the Year honor.
Vanni went on to expand her game on the hardwood.
More of a defensive sparkplug as a junior, Vanni took on the role of offensive facilitator with point guard Jasmine Currimao out for most of the season with a knee injury. Vanni thrived in her position and led the Timberwolves in assists while finishing as one of their top scorers, 3-point shooters and steal producers.
She especially came up big in what ended up being Sierra’s most important game of the year.
In a rematch against Sonora, which had previously defeated Sierra 43-39, Vanni nailed three 3-pointers and knocked down a key free throw late to secure her team’s 41-37 victory. Without that win, the Timberwolves would not have qualified for the SJS Division-III playoffs.
Vanni’s best work was done in soccer, the sport she knows best.
In the last four years, Vanni has been a part of two VOL championship teams, two SJS Division-IV finalists and in 2011 she led the T’Wolves to their fourth section title in program history. During that stretch, Sierra went 81-19-10, and in her four varsity seasons she played at every level of the field except for goalie.
As a senior, she was among area leaders with 23 goals, including one in a 2-0 win over Livingston in the opening round of the playoffs.
Sierra went on to defeat league rival Oakdale, the 2011 VOL champ, 1-0 in the section finals, which followed a thrilling 2-1 come-from-behind win in overtime against favored Vista del Lago.
Vanni fittingly went out with a championship along with Sierra’s highest honor for its student-athletes — the all-around senior athlete of the year.
Moving forward, she will concentrate her efforts in soccer at San Francisco State, where her sister Nicole, two years her senior, is already playing.
So the tennis racquet and basketball high tops are stored away in a gym bag somewhere.
For now, perhaps.
The hardest thing for an athlete to do is to hang it up for good. Vanni is more than a soccer player, she is an athlete.
And giving up is probably the one thing she isn’t good at.
2011 ALL-AREA FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
MIKAELA ALGER
• School: Ripon Christian
• Year: Junior
• Sports: Volleyball, basketball, soccer
• Achievements: Key player for three SJS playoff teams, including the Division-VI champion volleyball squad … Led basketball team to runner-up finish in Southern League and averaged 15.1 points, 13.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game … Netted six goals as midfielder for soccer team that reached postseason for first time in over a decade.
ALYSIA ATKINS
• School: Sierra
• Year: Senior
• Sports: Volleyball, basketball
• Achievements: An all-VOL first-team selection in both volleyball and basketball … Led volleyball team to seventh straight postseason appearance and was one of the area’s hardest hitters from the middle blocker position … Posted averages of 8.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals in basketball … Produced 17 points, 11 rebounds and five steals in comeback win over Sonora, which vaulted Sierra into playoffs.
JILLIAN GOULART
• School: East Union
• Year: Senior
• Sports: Golf, softball
• Achievements: Named Bulletin’s All-Area Girls Golfer of the Year in the fall … Earned MVP of VOL while leading Lancers to fourth straight conference crown … Wrapped up golf career at SJS Masters, carding a rock-solid 82 … Four-time Bulletin All-Area selection in softball … Hit .460 and led area players with 23 steals … Signed to play softball for Simpson University.
BRITTANY LAMAR
• School: East Union
• Year: Senior
• Sports: Volleyball, softball
• Achievements: One of just two Mantecans (Atkins) to be voted onto the all-VOL first team in volleyball and was a presence at the net as a middle blocker … Four-year standout catcher for softball club was Defensive Player of the Year in VOL … Along with being the area’s top backstop for four years, she was a also a feared hitter (.450, 10 doubles, 2 HRs, 24 RBIs) … Signed to play softball for William Jessup University.
SALINA TISCARENO
• School: East Union
• Year: Senior
• Sports: Golf, basketball, softball
• Achievements: Solid contributor for three tradition-rich teams … No. 3 golfer for VOL champion earned spot on all-league first team … Athletic point guard for basketball team that made 11th straight postseason appearance … An all-around threat on both ends of the court but was also one of Lancers’ most reliable shooters (41 percent 3-pointers, 72 percent free throws) … Started at second base in softball and hit .371.
— Jonamar Jacinto
TRIPLE THREAT
Vanni helped three Sierra teams reach postseason

