Salem High School senior Skyler Klapperich said that she has played volleyball for almost as long as she can remember and now she has an opportunity before her of which she previously would have only dreamed.
“I’ve played since I was six,” she said. Over the years, she’s been involved in other sports, like basketball, but when it comes to sports, her one true love is volleyball. Over the years, Klapperich has played club volleyball and just wrapped up her final season with the Salem High School team.
“This probably sounds crazy, but when I’m on the court it’s almost relaxing,” said Klapperich. Klapperich said that it is intense and challenging, but that’s what she likes about it.
“It’s my peaceful spot,” she said. For Klapperich, everything else just fades away and all that matters is the ball, her teammates, her opponents and herself.
No matter how much stress and no matter the points, that’s all that matters, she explained.
Klapperich plays as a setter and a hitter depending on whether she is playing club ball or high school ball.
She said that while playing club ball, Jesse Zabal, the head volleyball coach at Loyala University Chicago, noticed her and added her to the Team USA database—an organization that has teams playing in Australia, Spain and the Dominican Republic. She has been recruited to play on the team in the Dominican Republic next July.
Klapperich told The Salem News that she’s excited about the opportunity to play with Team USA and hopes to leverage this opportunity into other future ones by making herself a more attractive collegiate candidate or by qualifying for other national leagues.
She is thankful for her parents, especially her mother Melissa Heffner, for the many hours she has put into making it possible for her to compete in both club and high school levels.
Heffner said that she is very proud of the hard work her daughter has put in to make it this far.
