Source: Hometown Life

Author: Colin Gay

Awesome. Incredible. Selfless. 

When asked to describe Jess Mruzik, these are the words that came to the minds of her former Mercy Volleyball teammates. However, for junior outside hitter Charli Atiemo, one word encapsulated every feeling: superhero. 

“I thank God every day that I was able to live this with her,” Atiemo said. 

Despite leaving Mercy to enroll early and play volleyball at Michigan, Mruzik returned to Mercy High School Wednesday to officially cap off her high school career, being named the Gatorade Volleyball National Player of the Year. 

Through this award, Gatorade recognizes the nation’s most elite high school athletes in 12 different sports. Past winners include Peyton Manning, Abby Wambach and Derek Jeter. 

The Mercy Athletics Department also announced that Mruzik’s No. 33 would be retired. 

“Looking back on it, I’m just so blessed and honored to be a part of such an amazing volleyball community and so highly respected among my peers and coaches and everything,” Mruzik said. “This is just unreal.” 

Taking Mercy to the next level

Mercy head coach Loretta Vogel knew Mruzik was going to make an impact the first time she saw her. 

To Vogel, it was the way she passed the ball, the way she attacked, the way she jumped. The Mercy head coach was floored: she was in seventh grade. 

“You’ve got to remember, she was 12,” Vogel said. “Jumping and attacking that we take years to show other girls and Jess could do it right away.”

After shadowing her and eventually deciding to join Mruzik at Mercy, Bishop felt right away that this setter and outside hitter pairing would do big things in their high school tenure. 

“She always was that player where ‘she’s going to be big. She’s going to go far,’” Bishop said. “But it never kicked in how far she could actually go.” 

Mruzik came into her high school career knowing the pedigree of Mercy volleyball, that consistent success was expected. 

The reputation of the program was extremely high, but the expectation of what Mruzik wanted to bring was even higher. 

“I came into this program wanting to build it up,” Mruzik said. “I just wanted to take it to the next level.” 

Coaches and teammates knew what Mruzik could do, starting and verbally committing to Michigan her freshman season and leading Mercy to a state semifinal appearance in her sophomore and junior seasons. 

For her parents, her dominance on the volleyball court was something new. 

“People were telling us, coaches and so forth, that she had a very high ceiling,” Jeff Mruzik, Jess’ father, said. “Having not experienced it before, we were like ‘that’s great, that’s great.’ Every time she did something, she did something else on top of it.”  

During the 2019 season, the 6-foot-1 outside hitter led the Marlins to a 59-1 record and Mercy’s first state title in school history, compiling 495 kills, 209 digs, 47 service aces and 19 blocks. She also posted a .635 kill percentage and a .540 hitting percentage.

Mruzuk also served as captain of the USA Volleyball Youth National Team, leading Team USA to the gold medal at the FIVB Girls U18 World Championships in Egypt and earning tournament MVP honors.

Along with the state championship, Mruzik was named as Miss Michigan Volleyball for the 2019 season.  

While being appreciative of the accolades, it’s not something Mruzik aims for. 

“It’s definitely super amazing to have won all these awards this year throughout my volleyball career, but I know it’s not why I play the game,” Mruzik said. “I play the game because I love the sport and I love my teammates and the competitive atmosphere that comes with playing volleyball.” 

Bishop does not need awards to tell her the quality of the teammate she has set for over the past few years.

“Me being her setter, it was an insane experience, such a beautiful thing to do, but also it opens your eyes that, I got to play with the best player in the nation right now,” Bishop said. 

Mruzik’s legacy lives on 

Vogel was asked once if Mruzik had a “big head” because of all the success the star outside hitter had accomplished. 

In response, Vogel laughed and said, “She’s not made that way.” 

“She’s just been a joy to have. She’s just a good kid. Her family's a good family,” Vogel said. “With Jess receiving many awards, you wouldn’t know. She’s always Jess.” 

The 2019 season for Mercy will be remembered for the success on the volleyball court, the dominance of Mruzik in the front, the demolishing of opponents each step of the way. 

However, for players and coaches, Mruzik will be remembered more by her actions off the court, by the amount of love she brought her teammates and coaches, the way she cared about each and every one of them. 

To Jeff Mruzik, this means more than the volleyball accolades. 

“As a parent, without a doubt that is one of the most incredible things anybody could tell you is that your child is not only a great athlete, but a great person and a great teammate,” Jeff Mruzik said. “To us, that even goes deeper than some of the successes for volleyball.” 

Jess Mruzik did not know when she would be back to Mercy after enrolling early at Michigan. 

However, when she opened the door, saw her teammates and coaches, the emotions came flooding back. With a trophy in hand, her teammates surrounded her, mobbing the senior outside hitter in a way similar to how they mobbed each other after earning the state title. 

To Mruzik, walking back through the doors of Mercy High School, she realized that she didn’t realize what she had until it was gone.

“I wouldn’t be here without them,” Mruzik said. 

But Mruzik’s legacy will never truly be gone from Mercy. The expectations have been set, with Mruzik’s No. 33 hanging from the rafters in the gym, flying high above each and every volleyball player to wear a Marlins uniform. 

Flying like a superhero. 

Contact reporter Colin Gay at cgay@hometownlife.com or 248-330-6710. Follow him on Twitter @ColinGay17. Send game results and stats to Liv-Sports@hometownlife.com.