Minick to play volleyball at Heartland Community College

BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com

Lauren Minick thought her senior volleyball season at Mahomet-Seymour High School might be her last.

“I’ve been playing volleyball year-round since seventh grade,” Minick said. 

“I was kind of feeling like I was getting burnt out. I was getting pretty exhausted and it was just a lot of emotional and physical things that were just kind of making me feel like I wasn’t really ready to go on.”

But then Minick began her senior season.

“(Coach) Stan (Bergman) really pushed me and motivated me to want to keep going because I was enjoying the season so much,” she said.

As a three-year varsity starter, Minick helped the Bulldogs to a 30-8 record, including an IHSA Class 3A regional championship, by compiling 223 kills, 86 aces and 235 digs. 

Going into her senior season with a new coach was nerve-racking, though.

“At first I was kind of nervous because we didn’t really know him,” she said.

“He definitely had a different way of doing things. Going into your senior year having a different coach, it’s like my concern was, ‘Oh am I gonna play?’”

But when Bergman took the reigns, and the girls bought into his vision, playing time became secondary. 

The seniors banded together with one goal in mind: “We wanted to set a standard,” Minick said.

“We wanted to show (the underclassmen) this is what you need to be doing and this is how.”

Minick felt the group succeeded.

That leadership came from years of hard work, though.

Minick joined the Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School volleyball team as a seventh-grader with no experience under her belt.

“The reason I got as serious (about volleyball) as I did was because of Disa Garner,” Minick said. “She really pushed me.”

Minick joined Prime Time Club Volleyball following a suggestion from Garner.

“She kind of taught me a majority of what I know right now,” Minick said. “And she kinda was the baseline of it. She really motivated me to keep continuing on. She’s always been there for me supporting me.”

Going into the high school program, Minick found the same support from former head coach Stacey Buzicky and long-time assistant Mike Williams. 

“They’ve all kind of just pushed me,” she said. 

Minick said she would have continued to play volleyball even without support from the adults in her life, but she went from a three-sport athlete to loving volleyball the most because of the time the adults in her life lent to her.

It sparked a love for all the Minicks.

“My family didn’t really know much about volleyball in general,” she said. “With club and Disa’s help, we learned more.”

Having that bond with her parents added more excitement to the journey.

“They’ve definitely been like a huge support system and motivated me,” she said. “They are definitely a huge reason I got where I am today.”

Minick recently committed to playing volleyball at Heartland Community College, in Normal, beginning with the 2020 season. The Division II National Junior College Athletic Association volleyball program will be in its inaugural season at the school, which competes in the Mid-West Athletic Conference.

To be close to home studying nursing means a lot to Minick.

“(My parents) never really miss a game, and so I think that it’ll be good for them to be able to possibly make it to some that are close.” 

Minick will continue to play club volleyball until June when she will begin summer workouts from her new coach, Mary Frahm, who was formerly an Illinois Wesleyan University assistant. The junior college team begins practice on Aug. 1.

Being part of a newly formed program is refreshing for Minick.

“I won’t be the only one that’s new to it,” she said. “I get to do this with other people … everyone else is right there with me, and I really love the coaching staff.”

Minick hopes to continue on after obtaining her nursing degree to become a Physician’s Assistant in dermatology.