Sarah Morbitzer ’24 aces following her heart
From patient and Ohio State volleyball player to medical professional and coach, she is prepared for life after graduation.
Sarah Morbitzer, who has a congenital heart defect, celebrates on the volleyball court. Her mom, Carole Morbitzer ’95, says: “If she had gone to a smaller school, would they have let her play? I think they wouldn’t have. But Ohio State is at the forefront of medicine. This was meant to be.” (Ohio State photo)
Sarah Morbitzer ’24 played Division I volleyball at Ohio State, starting as a walk-on and then earning scholarship status before her junior season, a rarity in her sport. That achievement was made more meaningful by the fact that she had undergone surgery twice for a congenital heart defect—once at 4 months and again in 2020, just after she became a Buckeye.
Today, Sarah is living both experiences from the other side. She graduated with a bachelor’s in exercise science this summer and plans to apply to medical school in 2025. Her goal is to become a cardiologist. In the meantime, she’s taking a gap year, completing a fellowship at Ohio State’s Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute and helping her mom coach the volleyball club Sarah grew up with.
“I don’t look at Sarah as my assistant coach because she’s been exposed to the game at a much higher level than I’ve ever coached it,” says Carole Morbitzer ’95, director of instruction and achievement for Groveport Madison Schools, southeast of Columbus. She previously spent two decades equipping high schoolers with math skills and was Ohio’s 2013 Teacher of the Year. “My team is lucky to have two head coaches, is the way I view it.”
Sarah’s years playing at Ohio State give her insights that make her an invaluable member of the team. “I think the players like that I know what they’re going through. I know how stressful the recruiting process is, so I can give them tips and tricks,” she says. “In the moments when my players aren’t executing well, when they’re down on themselves, I can say I’ve been there and I learned how to get out of the rut myself.”
Her cardiovascular research assistant fellowship is with the JB Project at the Davis institute, part of the College of Medicine. Through her coursework, she says, she enjoyed learning the practitioner perspective of procedures she experienced as a patient. “In one of my classes, I learned how to run a stress test,” Sarah says. “I’ve had maybe 10 of those, so it was cool to be on the other side.”
As a freshman, Sarah underwent a minimally invasive heart valve replacement procedure for her congenital heart disease and returned to the volleyball team within weeks. Carole credits Sarah’s physician, Curt Daniels ’91 MD, and his teams at Ohio State and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
“If she had gone to a smaller school, would they have let her play?” Carole asks. “I think they wouldn’t have. But Ohio State is at the forefront of medicine. This was meant to be.”
Sarah has always been a go-getter, but her time at Ohio State pushed her to clarify her goals, her mom says. “She’s matured in her thinking: ‘This is what I want. This is what I’m going to go after.’”
In addition to her burgeoning careers, Sarah is sharing her story with children who have the same heart condition. She wrote a book last year called Sarah Scarbuck’s Heart Zipper: A Story of a Heart Surgery Scar. “I gave one to a little boy recently. He’s 5,” she says. “To see him smile and see him call himself a superhero, like in the book, it’s been so fulfilling.”
Carole says Sarah’s story helps parents, too. “Children don’t know that what they’re going through is different, but their parents do,” she says. “Sarah helps them see the life their child can have. She played Division I volleyball with a heart defect.”
