Waite’s Juhasz could be good catch for college program

By: 
J. Patrick Eaken

Over the past decade or more, Toledo City League volleyball teams have not typically fared well against similar size schools from the Northern Lakes League or Three Rivers Athletic Conference in district tournament action.

This year the City League did not play any games outside the league with Start going undefeated and winning the conference title. So, it can be like comparing apples to oranges.

Waite senior libero Angel Juhasz is an athlete and was named City League Player of the Year. The 5-foot-5 Juhasz is Waite coach Sydney Fuller’s first POY in her eight years at the helm and will be the Alan Miller Jewelers Co-Player of the Year.

She could play any position on the court and over her prep career she has.

“She is honestly an athlete — multi-sports and super athletic. She could probably play any sport if she wanted,” Fuller said.

As a freshman we would max her out every night,” Fuller continued. “She would play five sets no matter what. She played freshman, JV and varsity. Her sophomore year, I pulled her straight to varsity as my middle hitter and then her junior and senior year she became my libero. She is definitely my utility player — yes.”

Juhasz hopes to have the opportunity to play collegiately once a next-level program realizes she is worth recruiting. She attended a college showcase two weeks ago and last summer went to a Defiance College showcase.

“I was a little nervous because when I play with new people I get nervous, and I’m shy,” Juhasz said. “I think overall it went well, but in the beginning I was a little shy so I was kind of messing up a little bit. At the end, I was getting the hang of it.”

In Waite’s shortened 12-game season, Juhasz had 96 digs, 29 aces and 21 kills. 

“Angel has been the libero on our varsity team the last two seasons. She leads in digs, and is an asset to hitting even though she never gets to play front row,” Fuller said. “Angel does not leave the court typically. She was a captain this past season. 

“She is a natural leader, multi-sport athlete, and a great student. Angel is a utility player and would do anything I asked. She was always the player to do extra work, never let a girl finish a drill or consequence alone, and a team player.”

Juhasz, who is also a cheerleader and plays softball, got introduced to the game of volleyball by her older sisters.

“I first started playing when I was in sixth grade and my sisters took me along to play with them because I wasn’t really that good then,” Juhasz said. “I like being around the coaches because coach Sydney has been there just as long as I’ve been there and she always pushed me to do better. Just the way the coaches treat me and all the players, it’s like a family. I’m just thankful for my coaches and having them push me throughout all the years.”

Fuller said, “She would start coming into the gym before she was even on a team, so she’s been around for almost eight years, in the gym.”

Waite ended the season 5-7, but both Fuller and Juhasz said the team got better as they got playing time.

“In the beginning we were a little rusty because we had 15 players because of COVID, so she was trying to rotate everybody in and figure out where we were all best at. But at the end, we did come up and we beat a team that we didn’t beat in the beginning and we did do better then,” Juhasz said.

Fuller added, “I have younger girls now on varsity. It was definitely a learning year for a lot of girls because they wanted us to max out our team. I had never maxed out our team — I always keep a smaller team, like 10 or 11 and I took on 15 girls so it was definitely a learning year for a lot of them.”

Juhasz is part of another team — her boyfriend Nik Heslet, the Waite quarterback, was City League POY in football. They just celebrated their one-year anniversary as a couple. Juhasz says her long term goal is to study criminal justice. 

Fuller has another player who she believes could play collegiately — 6-3 senior middle hitter Monica Wilson. A first team All-City League selection and second team All-Press, she had 35 kills and 42 blocks.

“Monica walked into our gym for an open house her sophomore year to introduce her mom to the gym teacher, and we hunted her down. She had never touched a ball before her sophomore year, and we liked her on our team,” Fuller said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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