Montville — Zoie Farrar is nearing the finale of her historic Montville High School volleyball career in the ECC/SCC Senior All-Star Classic on Monday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

A 2023 Class S all-state selection and Most Valuable Player of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II tournament championship, Farrar has a family history of greatness in the sport, and she made her mark, too.

Of all the feats Farrar achieved in her career, most of all she was proud of the way she represented her family legacy through the No. 11.

“I’m proud of representing my number (11) the way I did. It means a lot to me,” Farrar said. “My cousin used to play for Montville High, and when she passed away, I wanted to carry on her legacy and continue playing for her. Knowing that I did everything I could for my team wearing that number means a lot to me.

“I want to be the last to wear the number or pass it on to my little cousin.”

Farrar continued the legacy of No. 11, but it was another cousin, Nicole Terni, who started it all. Terni won her own ECC championship exactly 20 years from the date that Farrar won it this season. Apart from the connection to Terni and her late cousin, Stephanie Jones, the No. 11 appears throughout her life, and she carries it proudly in honor of her loved ones.

Farrar said: “It’s a number that I’ll acknowledge often in my everyday life, I’ve accepted it as ‘my’ number. Even in my family we say, ‘I love you 11 times,’ so it means a lot to me.”

In her senior season, Farrar led Montville to a 21-4 record along with a Division IV regular-season championship (and 6-0 record) and a Division II tournament championship, the first in program history for the Wolves.

She finished with 230 kills, 86 aces with a 93% serve rate, 16 blocks and 181 digs, along with numerous other accolades. She is a three-time All-ECC selection and was named to The Day’s 2023 All-Area Team.

Her numbers saw an enormous improvement from her prior season, having nearly 150 more kills and 30 more aces, but head coach Harold Branstrom said that one of Farrar’s biggest improvements was off the court as a leader.

He said she had talent even from a young age, claiming she was one of the “true volleyball players” he coached in his career, but she didn’t blossom into the leader she is until her senior year.

“She really came on as a leader this year,” Branstrom said. “I think she saw the issues we had last year and she didn’t want to see that again. I feel like Zoie took it upon herself to make sure we didn’t have those same issues her senior year.”

Branstrom said Farrar changed the entire dynamic of the team.

He said: “I knew this year was going to be different because last year when practice was over, the gym would empty out immediately. First practice this year, nine of the varsity girls were sitting in the corner chatting afterwards. Right then and there I knew the chemistry was going to be completely different.”

With the curtains closing on her high school athletic career, Farrar plans to pursue a career in the veterinary field. She has the talent to play collegiate volleyball, but she said “volleyball isn’t going to last forever; I want to take my education seriously and get my degree.”

According to Farrar, her top two schools are Liberty and Virginia Tech, but she is still in the decision-making process. She discussed the possibility of walking on to a team or playing intramural volleyball, but she was adamant on focusing on academics over anything else.

First, Farrar will be playing at Mohegan Sun among the best players from the ECC and Southern Connecticut Conference in the inaugural Senior All-Star Classic at 6 p.m. Monday. There are a total of 15 players representing the ECC.

“It doesn’t even feel real,” Farrar said. “I know a lot of players there, so it’s more exciting than anything. I haven’t gotten to play with any of them before, so it’s an honor to finally share the court with them.”

Going into her final high school volleyball game, Farrar’s goal is to simply remain positive.

Farrar said: “I just want to stay up and smile. Volleyball is a game of failure; you’re always going to fail, that’s the point. I just want to stay positive throughout the match and help my team win.”

Tickets to the all-star game are $10 and may be obtained by visiting https://am.ticketmaster.com/mohegan/Seniorclassic. The match will be livestreamed on GameDay at www.theday.com.

z.cunningham@theday.com