Zurek proud to reach 1,000-kill milestone
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HOUGHTON -- The reigning GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week, Michigan Tech senior outside hitter Rachel Zurek, recently reached a career milestone in a match on the road against rival Northern Michigan at the Hedgecock Fieldhouse. She became just the 12th Huskies player to ever record 1,000 career kills at Michigan Tech.
The Highland, Michigan, native never thought that total was ever going to be within reach.
"Actually, it’s quite crazy to me," she said. "I never thought I would see the day where I hit 1,000 kills.
"Especially when I was recruited as a middle. It’s almost impossible for a middle to reach that number. Then moving positions once and then moving positions again, I’m just very blessed to see all this court time."
Zurek was recruited to Michigan Tech as middle blocker, but circumstances forced then-coach Matt Jennings to try her on the right side in her sophomore year. Under Cindy Pindral, who replaced Jennings, Zurek stayed on the right side last season. This year, she is playing the left side. She jokes about trying setter, but knows that the Huskies have a very capable player in that position.
"Having that stability in our essentially quarterback role has been super nice," said Zurek, when asked about sophomore setter Madelynn Kreider. "She’s super consistent. She was saying that our Friday game was kind of an off day for her, but she was still putting up wonderful numbers. She’s an amazing athlete and an amazing human being."
Zurek credits her team and the Huskies coaching staffs that she has worked with for helping her through all of her position changes in college.
"I think the biggest factor that’s helped me push through that is the trust from my teammates and coaches," she said. "Whether it was Jennings or Coach Cindy, just the confidence that they had put in me, and no matter the amount of mistakes that I had made, they would always know that I was trying my best. That’s all I could ask for."
Pindral said that Zurek leads by example on the floor, and that leadership is invaluable.
"Yeah, she leads by example, for sure," Pindral said. "I feel like we’ve got quite a good leadership group, and leadership committee, that are more vocal leaders. They absolutely lead by example as well.
"Rachel doesn’t need to say a whole bunch. She just needs to play the way that she does, and she needs to exude the joy that she usually plays with. So, she leads by example."
Zurek has racked up 264 kills already this season, through 63 sets played, which puts her just seven shy of the 271 kills she had in 106 sets as a sophomore.
"We’re relying on her a ton for our offense," said Pindral. "She’s really the sparkplug for our team. She's just continuing to get better. I’m most impressed with her out-of-system swings and her ability to find ways to keep it in the court, not only in the court, but score on a lot of these, especially balls that are coming at really weird angles.
"If our first contact isn’t great, and our setter is coming from almost the end line, just hucking it over her shoulder, Rachel is being confident with those swings. She’s placing them in good spots."
Zurek is shy when it comes to talking about being a leader on her team. But that has not stopped her from finding ways to drive her teammates to improve with every match.
"I just really have a lot of love and passion for the game," she said. "I have since I was a young girl, and I think that’s really what’s kind of carried me through my college career. I’ve been told it shows on the court through my dance moves and whatnot. It’s been a lot of fun playing here."
When she is not having fun between volleys, her ears are open to what her teammates have to say, and now she has learned how to take their advice and roll with it.
"She’s listening to her defenders when they’re suggesting areas to hit at," said Pindral. "I think that’s the biggest transformation for her from last year to this year is her ability to hit tough, out-of-system balls and still score when maybe our first couple of contacts weren’t very quality."
The Huskies as a team spent a lot of time team-building after last season, and Zurek feels it is paying off. She is eligible to return for a fifth season, and she is strongly considering it.
"I am super passionate for the sport, and just the culture that we’ve built as a team," she said. "The whole Houghton community, I just adore. It’s been such an honor to play here."
Part of the team culture she refers to includes helping develop the player who appears to be on track to take over her position once she moves on, freshman outside hitter Kayla Heinonen. While Heinonen is pushing for playing time already as a first-year player, Zurek loves having her as a teammate.
"She is just the sweetest, most open-minded person you could ever meet," Zurek said. "I am so happy that the coaches recruited her, and it’s like she’s been one of my best friends here on the team.
"That’s crazy to say, because I’ve only known her for a couple months now. But, even just on her visit, I knew that I was really going to get along with this girl, and that she’s just so hard-working. She pushes herself every single day."
Zurek said that Heinonen has already done a great job of living up to a team motto.
"One of our mottos on the team is give your 100%, whether that’s you have 40% that day, you just give all 40," she said. "But she (Heinonen) is that person where she will push herself an extra percent, even if she’s not at her full 100."
Zurek now ranks 10th all-time at Michigan Tech with 1,041 kills.
Michigan Tech volleyball coach Cindy Pindral presents outside hitter Rachel Zurek with a commemorative ball honoring her 1,000th career kill at the SDC Gym Friday in Houghton. Zurek reached that milestone in a match against Northern Michigan Tuesday, Sept. 22. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)