Sally Whittaker ’98 was a three-sport standout. She played three years of volleyball, three years of softball, and two years of basketball at DeSales. In volleyball, she ranks among the all-time leaders in several statistical categories, including 14th in kills (664), 5th in hitting percentage (.278), 14th in digs (877), 4th in total blocks (264), and 20th in service aces (109). As a basketball player, she averaged 10.5 points per game, appeared in 40 games, and totaled 419 career points.
Softball was perhaps Sally’s most successful sport at DeSales—she still 2nd second all-time in career batting average (.442). She is also tied 12th all-time in runs scored (78), 11th in hits (122), 6th in doubles (32), 4th in triples (15), and 7th in RBIs (78). Whittaker was named to the All-PAC First-Team twice and the All-MAC Freedom Conference Team once, and she was named the Female Athlete of the Year in 1995 96.
After graduating, Sally worked as the championship manager for the 2000 USGA Senior Open at Saucon Valley Country Club before becoming the sports director at the Allentown Jewish Community Center until 2004. She then spent two years working as a teaching assistant in the Parkland School District while pursuing her master’s at Kutztown University. Since 2007, Whittaker has been a career education teacher/school counselor at Northampton Area Middle School.
Sally continued her softball career by playing for the Yuengling A’s and Lehigh Valley Gators until 2002 in a women’s fastpitch softball league. She coached JV softball at Parkland for three years, coached middle school basketball at Northampton for three years, and is now in her fourth year as the varsity softball coach at Northampton Area High School.
In 2006, after Hurricane Katrina, Whittaker organized a prom dress drive for those who were affected by the hurricane. She collected more 2,200 dresses that were sent to six high schools in Mississippi. She has also volunteered for and coached the Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley for three years, created and currently runs the student ambassadors at Northampton Area Middle School—which encourages students to experience volunteerism—and also volunteers to feed the homeless in Allentown one Sunday each month.
Sally lives in Allentown, Pa., with her husband, Barry Kahan, and she has three stepchildren — Sarah, Michael, and Jackie.
