After finishing her senior year at Highland, Zoya Winkelfoos will continue playing volleyball at the University of Findlay, which competes at the Division II level.
While she looked at a number of other schools in the general area, including Heidelberg, Wooster and Otterbein, she felt that Findlay was the best choice for her.
“So I went and the coaches are really nice, really great,” she said. “The program is really winning this year. The campus felt like home. It’s close to home — close enough to come back and watch my brother play. I’m just really excited to take on the DS position there. It just really felt like home. A good campus, good program and community-like.”
Playing the DS position will be a different experience for Winkelfoos, who was a hitter for the Scots this year and previously had played as a setter.
“I’ve been a setter since I was little and, really, whatever my team needs, I step up as,” she said. “So I was a setter and then, this year, I was a hitter and playing six rotations. For college, I was recruited as a DS, so I’ll be passing in college now, which I’m really excited about.”
Winkelfoos felt that being able to play a number of positions will help a lot.
“I can help my teammates out even better knowing those positions and understanding what it takes to go through each position, so that’s really cool,” she said.
She added that creating good chemistry with her teammates is one of her biggest goals.
“I’m just really excited to go in there and meet the girls and do the best I can for them and support them and try to make myself better, too,” Winkelfoos said. “I feel like my teammates will help me with all aspects. I’m really big on helping my teammates and being there for them, so I think even stepping up that level even more will help my skill level grow.”
She also believes in hard work — something she said played a big role in her Highland teams having so much success throughout the years.
“I feel like just the everyday training and all the hard work,” she said. “Our coach just wants us to put every effort into every play. Having that mentality and mindset just to get you to that level and want to do better for yourself and your team.”
Winkelfoos, who is undecided on her major, has been looking forward to college due to having a number of siblings who greatly enjoyed their collegiate experiences.
“I have five other siblings and all of them actually went to college now,” she said. “I’ve just seen how much fun they have. They met their life-long friends. I feel the team will become my family and I’m really excited about that.”
Winkelfoos, who is undecided on her major, noted she will miss a lot of things about Highland.
“I feel like just the community,” she said. “Everyone supporting each other and coming to games. Obviously, my life-long friends, but I’m really excited for the next chapter.”
She added that she’ll have a lot of memories from her time with the Scot volleyball team to take with her.
“Just all the laughter,” she said. “The locker room memories, bus rides, laughing through the workouts and being there for each other. Really just them being my family and getting to know them on a deeper level.”
