Sophie McDonald
Sports Editor
Sophomore middle blocker and outside hitter Wendi Zickfield has always wanted to be a Racer.
“I’ve always wanted to come to Murray,” she said. “I came to Murray in eighth-grade with my best friends to watch Southeast Missouri State play football and ever since then I thought this was college.”
During her junior year of high school Zickfield went to a Murray-SEMO football game in her hometown of Cape Girardeau, Mo., and saw Coach David Schwepker who saw her play the next week and eventually offered her a scholarship.
The 6-foot 2-inch student-athlete began playing volleyball in fifth-grade, but in high school she came to a fork in the road.
“I couldn’t decide between softball and volleyball, but I really liked the volleyball coach,” Zickfield said. “Then I wanted to play basketball in college until my junior year when I really got involved with volleyball.”
Despite her love for everything about the sport, Zickfield said before committing to Murray State she was torn between volleyball and her other passion – modeling.
“My parents told me that being a college athlete is not something you can waltz back into, so they told me not to give up my college athletics and to just go for it and do what I want,” she said. “They said in the end whatever makes me happy will make them happy.”
Her parents are her biggest fans, she said.
“The want to see it all,” she said. “They come to every game and that makes me so happy. It’s just so nice to have them there.”
She credits her dad for making her the person she is today.
“He’s my biggest supporter, my mom is too but he’s been the one that pushed me, pushed me, pushed me as far as I could go until the point of breaking,” she said. “He would do anything for me; I am daddy’s little girl and he is my hero.”
Motivated by family and friends, Zickfield is pursuing her dream of working on camera with ESPN by majoring in organizational communication and minoring in broadcast journalism.
“Just having the support of everyone around me makes me want to do it more,” she said. “Having my parents push me so hard in sports and athletics and academics makes me want to push myself even more and show them it wasn’t a waste and that I can do it.”
The 20-year-old is proud of her accomplishments, but one stands out.
“(I’m proud of)?getting to play with this team and for Coach Schwepker,” she said. “He is unbelievable in every aspect, the greatest coach, he’s like a second dad. He knows everything about all the plays and he gets involved in not just your athletic life but your personal life. I’m really proud to have him as a coach.”
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