Channing Whitaker | Staff Writer

Former class of 2014 Irvington student and girls’ volleyball star Laura Hubacek was raised in Fremont and attended Irvington from 2010 to 2014. Hubacek started getting interested in volleyball at a very young age.

“I was first interested in volleyball when I was eight or nine, but wasn’t able to start playing until I was 11.” Hubacek explained, “I wanted to play because my older sisters played and I wanted to be just like them.”

In her junior and senior year in high school, she was named to the First Team MVAL’s All-League roster. Ultimately, her senior year was her better year. According to Dayton Flyers, she had over 300 kills, 200 digs, around 40 aces, and 30 blocks.

After making her decision to go to school at the University of Dayton, she made the Division one women’s volleyball team.

“Once I picked Dayton for going to college, I sent the head coach of Dayton an email with my videos and interest.” Hubacek explained, “He responded saying that I could come to camp in mid-July to see if I could play D1 volleyball. I did and they offered me a roster position as an outside hitter.”

Making the transition from high school to college was a monumental change for Hubacek.

“The biggest difference between college and high school is the competitiveness,” she said, “In high school, we didn’t always play to win in practice and even in some games, but in college, were always trying to win all the drills. Also, we travel pretty much every weekend and I still have yet to go to class on a Friday because our team is always gone.”

Reaching her goal was not easy for Hubacek; she faced rejections from many schools.

“In my junior year of high school when I was trying to get recruited, it was heartbreaking and stressful whenever a school rejected me,” she explained, “I didn’t really think I was good enough until Dayton gave me the offer to play.”

Despite all the hardships Hubacek had to endure to play college volleyball, playing the sport she loves still feels like a dream.

“I never thought I would be playing in college, especially D1.” Hubacek stated.