It's hard not to get excited when you talk to Hailey Zuroske.
Her out-going personality and her excitement when approaching life is contagious.
She's one heck of a teammate too.
Case-in-point: taking on a new role as a senior when the team was in need.
Hailey, a native of Omaha, Neb., was an outside hitter for the Cowgirl volleyball team for the first three seasons of her career at Wyoming.
However, circumstances dictated that for this season at least, someone was going to have to step in at libero, exclusively a defensive position. Hailey was that teammate.
In the sport of volleyball, the libero is pretty much the defensive captain, and there's little to no attacking involved. The libero begins the play. In other words, from what Hailey was doing her last three seasons for the Cowgirls to what she is doing now, is night and day.
"It was quite a change," she says. "I had always been an outside hitter. It was hard at first, because there was so much I had a lot to learn. There were times when I was frustrated, until I started figuring it out. I'm still learning a lot, but I really do love it. I was excited to do it for the team, and proud to step in."
That's Hailey in a nutshell.
After a pair of huge road wins last week, the Cowgirls are hosting a big two-match weekend, beginning tonight with San Jose State at 6 p.m. Nevada comes to town for a noon match on Saturday.
"We're excited to play at home," Hailey says. "Last week (victories at New Mexico and Air Force) showed us that we can match-up with anyone. I think it took some time for us to buy into the effort it takes and what we must do defensively. But we know every match from here on is absolutely critical for us. We are focused, and dialed in."
While there is always room for improvement, Zuroske is certainly making her senior transition work. Heading into this week's matches, she is fifth in the Mountain West in digs, averaging 3.58 per set. Not bad for someone learning a new position. By the way, she entered this season with 336 career kills and 700 digs.
Another very positive aspect of Hailey's game is her durability. She is just one of two Cowgirls (setter Kasia Partyka is the other) who have played all 62 sets thus far this season. "I want to bring stability and consistency to the team," she says. "I want my teammates to lean on me, so I'm proud that I've been fortunate enough to be able to do that."
Hailey also is an outstanding server. Over the last three-plus seasons she has led Wyoming with 79 service aces.
What makes a good server? "Certainly confidence is a big part of it," she says. "It's also the ability to tune everything out. Games get very stressful, and you can't allow what has happened affect you. It's difficult to do, but you have to stay focused on that serve. There's a lot of mental to it."
As successful as she has been on the court, Hailey is even more successful in the classroom. She is majoring in Professional Pharmacy, and has been accepted to the rigorous route of becoming a Pharmacist. The numerous Mountain West All-Academic and Scholar-Athlete selection carries a 3.8 cumulative GPA in that most difficult course of study!
"For a long time I knew my path was going to be pharmacy," she says. "I'm really happy I was accepted to move on with it. I have to admit it's really hard, especially while balancing volleyball. But I thank my professors and my classmates for helping me. I have three-to-four years left and I plan on finishing it here. I'm so excited to be here. I love this place, so I'm going to stay and finish."
Zuroske was fortunate enough to attend an Omaha high school that was one of the best in the state of Nebraska in the sport of volleyball. She lettered four years in volleyball at Marian High School. Marian was a two-time state volleyball champion during her time there, and made it to the semi-finals her other two years.
Hailey has two younger brothers, Nate, who is attending the University of Nebraska, and Collin who is in high school. Her Dad, Chris, played football and wrestled, and her Mother, Michelle, was a soccer player.
"My family loves to compete, so I get that from both parents. I don't think my Mother would have been disappointed if I had played soccer, we all knew that volleyball would be the route I took. I began playing club volleyball when I was 10- years old."
When deciding where to attend college, Hailey's first priority was a good pharmacy school. "I visited five or six schools. But Wyoming had an outstanding pharmacy school, and I loved the atmosphere here the most. I really felt like I could succeed here on the court and in school. The support for the university is amazing, just look at our facilities. The fact that there is just one university is so neat. I also thought it was just the right distance from home—far enough for me to live my life, but close enough that it's not difficult to get home. But the pharmacy school was huge for me."
Hailey enjoys her role as a team leader. During her high school career she participated in a leadership program called "Crusaders Elevating Others".
"I really enjoyed that experience in high school. I enjoy having a leadership role. I want to lead by example. I was a freshman once, and I really appreciated my upper classmates helping me. We all need that at some time or another, especially in college. I'm happy to be there for my teammates."
With her schedule, Hailey has very little time for much of anything other than school and her sport.
But she has a hobby that she would love to pursue once she has more time. "I love photography," she admits. "When I have time, I love nature photography. It's so beautiful around here there's plenty of opportunity. It's finding the time to get out there. At some point I would love to travel and take photography seriously."
She definitely has plenty on her plate to put those pursuits on hold for now. "There's definitely a lot going on right now, but I'm loving the experience."
