Anne Botica (Grover) spent most of her student life on the volleyball courts playing the sport she loved, so it was no surprised when she returned to the sport as a coach.

From 1994-1998, the St. Joseph’s high school student dominated the local high school volleyball scene. She played on Team Ontario for 4 years serving as the captain her final year. She played in the 1997 Canada Games, was all-city for four years and won numerous Ontario Volleyball Association All-Star awards.

In 1998, her dream became a reality when she was offered a full-ride volleyball scholarship to Ohio State University. Her team appeared in four straight NCAA appearances and finished 12th in the United States. In 2001, she was an all Big Ten member, preseason all Big Ten Squad member and was one of 12 players chosen for Midwest all-region squad. At the Buckeye Invitational in 2000, Botica became a co-record holder at Ohio State. She was the fourth Ohio State University player in history to serve seven aces in a match.

She ended her Ohio State career ranked 10th in career kills, 12th in career aces and 17th in hitting.

In 2002 she signed to play professionally for the Chicago Thunder but the team folded prior to the start of the season.

Botica decided it was time to take the leap into coaching, she returned to Ohio State University and coach the girl’s volleyball team to back to back conference titles and NCAA appearances from 2003-2005. In 2008, she coached the Durham Attack Club U17 team to a provincial and national volleyball championship. In 2009, she was inducted into the St. Joseph’s hall of fame.

Botica has truly shone in volleyball, but she attributes her success to coaches Dean O’Connell, Lionel Woods and Jim Stone.

As a powerhouse in her sport both on the court and off, Anne Botica (Grover) is now amoung many other incredible women to be inducted into the Windsor / Essex County Sports Hall of Fame in the Athlete category.