Orono High School had four seniors sign their letters of intent on Thursday, November 13. These seniors include Rachel Heussner, Cooper Tokar, Kiera Nelson and Julia Spacek.
“I first started playing volleyball in sixth grade and ended up learning that it was a passion of mine in ninth,” Heussner said. “I had the honor of being elected captain for both my junior and senior year.”
Heussner ended up committing to Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas.
“There were other schools that I was talking to but none as serious as Harding,” Heussner said. “Not only am I excited to play volleyball for them, but they have great academics and an incredible college environment, so it’s a win-win for me.”
Tokar began playing lacrosse in fifth grade but really began enjoying the sport once he got into middle school.
“Lacrosse is something I actually really enjoy playing and I was really excited when I found out that Colorado Mesa University wanted me to play for them,” Tokar said.
While Tokar is also on the wrestling team, he tends to focus more on lacrosse as it is his primary sport and he hopes to possibly be elected as a team captain this year.
Nelson is a four time varsity basketball letter recipient and was actually on the high school freshman team as an eighth grader.
“I started playing basketball in kindergarten and took to it right away,” Nelson said. “I was probably exposed to it at around age two, so you could say that I have been playing almost all my life.”
Being that Nelson is a four time varsity letter recipient as well as has been elected captain two years in a row, it is no surprise that the University of Minnesota Duluth was so interested in recruiting her.
Spacek started playing volleyball in the sixth grade played both volleyball and basketball up until her sophomore year when she decided that she was going to quit basketball in order to focus more of her time on volleyball.
“I enjoyed basketball but not nearly as much as I enjoy volleyball,” Spacek said. “Volleyball is something I am truly passionate about and its just something I never get tired of.”
During the school season, which is now over, Spacek would practice with her team everyday after school. However, now that the regular season is over, Spacek practices with an off-season club team three times a week.
“It may seem like a lot, playing an entire season of volleyball just to start club season right when it ends, but I love it,” Spacek said. “We have tournaments almost every weekend and it is a lot of work, but it’s worth it.”
Spacek was faced with the task of picking just one of the 10 schools that were looking at her to write her letter of intent to and in the end, she decided on the University of North Dakota.
