Cute, slim and sunny blonde sprite. She was on the volleyball team in junior high school. Her first job was assisting in the sales of heavy construction equipment. Underwood worked as a waitress at Hooters . She attended Oregon State University as a major in Business Marketing.

Sara first appeared in Playboy in its Girls of the Pac-10 pictorial in the October 2005 issue. She was featured on the cover, holding a football and clad only in a body painted rendering of an Oregon State Beavers football jersey and matching bikini briefs. She next appeared in the magazine in July 2006, as the Playmate of the Month. When she became Playmate of the Year in June 2007, her prize included a Mini Cooper convertible.