Miss Volleyball Spotlight: MVP honors would be nothing new for Mercy’s Mruzik
The accomplishments Jess Mruzik has achieved the last 24 months would be enough to make up a memorable volleyball career for most. The Farmington Hills Mercy senior outside hitter has been a two-time All-American with Legacy Volleyball Club, including an…
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Continue ReadingThe accomplishments Jess Mruzik has achieved the last 24 months would be enough to make up a memorable volleyball career for most.
The Farmington Hills Mercy senior outside hitter has been a two-time All-American with Legacy Volleyball Club, including an AAU U18 national championship and Player of the Year honors this past summer. She also led the Marlins to the Division 1 state semifinals in the 2018 season and the Class A semifinals in 2017.
On top of all that, Mruzik was team MVP of the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team in the 2018 NORCECA Girls’ U18 Continental Championship in Honduras last fall. Just a few weeks ago, Mruzik was once again named MVP of an international event. This time it was the FIVB Girls’ U18 World Championship in Egypt, where she helped lead Team USA to the championship.
“It’s been a crazy experience. I never would have thought of myself as someone who would have played in two international tournaments and winning a national championship,” Mruzik said. “It’s not something you can really imagine happening. I am just super grateful for everything that has been happening the past few years and I’m looking forward to what is going to happen next.”
What’s next could be the 2019 Miss Volleyball Award. Mruzik was announced as one of the 10 finalists for the honor this year.
“It’s very amazing to be finalist for the award,” Mruzik said. “The previous winners have all been amazing players, so I can only hope to be compared to their abilities.”
While the Miss Volleyball honor is focused on a players high school accomplishments, it is certainly hard to ignore what Mruzik has done on the national and international stages. The future Michigan Wolverines has faced against the best of the best in the world at her age group and emerged as the top player amongst them all.
While missing part of the 2018 and 2019 prep seasons to play overseas, Mruzik has been able to get a wealth of knowledge and experience in those events and apply it to her play with the Marlins.
“Everything in the international game is so fast,” Mruzik said. “The serves are faster, the hitting is faster and the passing is better. You have to really be good at everything and be able to react quicker. Coming back here, the game seems slowed down, but that is something I try to use to my advantage. I like to think that I can use the speed difference to help my teammates become better players as well.”
It wasn’t hard to see Mruzik was going to be an impact player at Mercy, as she immediately stood out as a freshman for the Marlins. Capable of doing it all, Mruzik’s powerful attacks and composed back-row play was something you didn’t see often for a first-year varsity player.
“From the first time I met her, she has always been a wonderful young lady. Jess has always embraced the team aspect of the game and has epitomized what a team leader is,” Mercy coach Loretta Vogel said of Mruzik. “She’s just a wonderful athlete and her personality as a woman is extraordinary.”
Mruzik has been a First Team All-State selection the past two years and is looking to guide Mercy to its first state championship this fall. The Marlins have reached the semifinals the last two years, only to fall to the likes of Marian and Lake Orion.
The 2019 Marlins have lost just one match this season, but that came while Mruzik was in Egypt. Vogel was sure not to rush her senior leader back upon returning to the United States, as she recognized that Mruzik had been having a whirlwind year with volleyball.
“When she came back from Egypt, I think some people thought she would just jump right back in, but she was just exhausted,” Vogel said. “Sometimes we forget that she’s still just a kid. She put a lot mentally and physically into playing in Egypt, not to mention the time change. When she got back, she had to catch up on her schooling and just take a breath. I think she wanted to come back right away, but we wanted her to take some time away to rest and recover. I think that was good for her and you can see now that she feels good and is back to being herself.”
Mruzik has a close relationship with her coach and is appreciative of her motherly instincts.
“Loretta is like having a mom at school. She is always pumping me up and cheering me on, but if I do something wrong, she is going to let me know about it,” Mruzik said of Vogel. “She only wants the best for me and I really appreciate all she has done for me.”