This past fall season, Izzy Fekula of the Parkland High School girls volleyball team achieved an impressive personal milestone.

She eclipsed 1,000 career digs as the defensive specialist, just the fourth player in program history to do so.

“I am very proud of Izzy getting recognized and having 1,021 digs in her career,” said head coach Mike Krause. “She had 975 digs in the last two years. Izzy is the fourth player in program history to get 1,000 digs. She did it basically in two seasons. She did not play much varsity her sophomore year with only 46 digs that year. The others to have 1,000 career digs were Brynn Dreisbach (1,045), Scarlett Jago (1,185 No. 1 all time) and Leah Brunnabend (1,096, holds the season record with 646 her junior year).”

Fekula summed up the feeling of achieving the accomplishment.

“Reaching my 1,000th career dig felt so surreal and meant everything to me,” said Fekula. “I’m not one who likes to look at statistics; I try just to play, free from the stress of it. I was talking to my parents after that match, and my dad pointed out how I needed those forty-six digs in my sophomore year as a non-starter in order to reach 1,000.

“Once he said that it really made me reflect on every moment I’ve experienced on the court. This accomplishment made me realize just how loved and supported I am. When they announced that I reached 1,000 digs my teammates immediately cheered and hugged me, but I hope they know I could not have done it without them. We all showed up in the gym together every day. They are the ones who challenged me in practice so I could perform and excel during games; all of this is because of them.”

Fekula and her classmate Sarah Furey recently made their choices on what college to attend and continue their academic and athletic careers. Fekula will be attending Juniata University, which just won the NCAA Division III national championship, while Furey will head to fellow DIII institution Eastern University, another national contender.

“I chose to continue my academic and athletic career at Juniata because of its location and competitive volleyball program,” Fekula said. “For the longest time, I kept telling people I didn’t want to play in college, but once I realized this would be my last year, I just could not imagine stopping.

“I did not do a lot of recruiting; toward the end of my junior year, I messaged a few schools in the area, Juniata being one of them. After I attended their volleyball camp this past summer, I knew I wanted to go there. I really liked the coaches, who were super personable, and all the girls I met during my official visit were so kind. I also felt a sense of familiarity because the Juniata program seems to have a similar philosophy to Parkland Volleyball in that it takes pride in holding its reputation. Both programs are known for a very long winning streak, which comes from hard work and lots of hours in the gym. I went to Virginia last weekend to watch the NCAA Division III national championship and saw Juniata compete in person. The atmosphere was so cool, and I am so grateful to be a part of it next year.”

They were also just recently named to the Pennsylvania Class 4A All-State Team. So, what made this duo so special on the court, according to Krause?

“Izzy was our defensive leader,” Krause said. “She could read the opponents intended attack and would communicate the defenses to her teammates. Izzy took a lot of responsibility to pass on serve receive taking on the most challenging serves. Izzy also had the ability to call out openings for our hitters to guide them on areas to attack into our opponent’s court.

“She came every day to the gym to improve her game and encouraged the other players in their development. She would provide input to the coaching staff during timeouts and in between sets on what she identified on opponents strategies and adjustments the hitters were making over the course of a match.”

Furey changed positions during her career and excelled in any role Krause asked her to fulfill.

“Sarah is a really special because she converted from a defensive specialist/setter position to a six-rotation outside hitter,” said Krause. “That is extremely difficult to do. Last season, Sarah was a defensive specialist and back up setter to Maggie Smith. Coming into this season we planned on Sarah running a 6-2 offense with setting and hitting. Due to personnel, we had to change the offense and convert Sarah to a six-rotation outside hitter.

“This is the first time in program history we had to do this. Sarah ended up leading the team in kills this season with 347, first on the team with 42 service aces, second on the team with 423 receptions and second on the team with 287 digs. Sarah had a career high 24 kills and five aces in the District Championship match.”

Parkland finished the year 17-8 overall, made it to the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinals, finished runner-up in the District 11 4A Tournament and earned a spot at states, winning the First Round game.