Hunkus, Mroski heads above rest

The Girard and Hubbard standouts were named co-players of the year in volleyball.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
Using their height and hands, Tealle Hunkus and Katy Jo Mroski left a mark on area volleyball courts that won't be wiped off soon.
The pair from Girard and Hubbard, respectively, dominated the opposition in a fashion that made them worthy of selection as Vindicator All-Star co-players of the year.
Hunkus is headed to Duke University on a full athletic scholarship while Mroski recently signed a letter of intent for the same prize at Indiana University.
Hunkus helped the Indians reach the state semifinals for the first time while Mroski was the main cog in continuing Hubbard's Trumbull Athletic Conference unbeaten streak of 150.
They played Junior Olympics volleyball together with the Trumbull Volleyball Club when both were sophomores.
Both love the game
What they have in common most, however, is that they love the game.
"They might be the two best in the area ever," said Hubbard High coach Chuck Montgomery, who also doubles as director of the Trumbull Volleyball Club. "They dedicated a lot to the sport. They're two outstanding players."
Hunkus has been coached by Girard's third-year coach Phil Walters who is also Tealle's uncle.
"She has a real talent and an absolute love of the game," said Walters, who started taking notice of his niece's ability when she was 11.
"She wanted to learn and play all the time. It's one of the reasons I got back into coaching," said the 6-3 Walters, who played in local leagues for several years and also at the U.S. Volleyball Association level. "She showed me a different perspective of the game because she wanted to learn."
With learning came more height as Hunkus sprouted.
"She was a normal 10- or 11-year-old, then she skyrocketed. On top of her passion for the game, it doesn't hurt to have a 6-1 frame."
Tealle has been playing organized volleyball since age 13 when she was with the East Ohio Volleyball Club.
"It's been an honor to coach her. She's given the rest of the team and me more of an appreciation of the game because of her desire and commitment to it. You can't coach the commitment level she's displayed."
Walters, who has his own daughters, contemplated coaching, but never seriously until making trips to his wife's sister's house where his niece would bug him.
"It was at that point that I started thinking about it. I think she'll get a great opportunity and make an impact on the Duke program her freshman year. I think she's going to be an impact player down there."
Hunkus, the daughter of Dave and Holly Hunkus, is an attacker -- playing middle hitter -- but Walters thinks she'll probably play outside hitter on the left side in college.
"Because of her quickness, she controls a lot of the court as a middle hitter. In college, where the players are much bigger, she'll be geared to the outside game. The coach knows how dominating a hitter she can be."
Walters said Tealle, who was first-team all-state, all-county, all-district, all-conference and District I Division III player-of-the-year, was ranked 36th in the country by Student Sports Magazine's Aug.-Sept issue.
Mroski
As a child on one of her teams in the Hubbard Community Youth League's soccer program, parents and fans cheered for "Katy Jo" to score. She was expected to carry the load.
It was uphill from there as the ponytailed blond blossomed into a two-time first-team All-Ohioan in volleyball.
She was also first-team All-TAC and three-time District I player-of-the-year among other honors and set Hubbard records for kills in a match (34, as a junior vs. Thomas Worthington) and season (466) and most aces in a season (92).
Her 466 is also a state record; it was set as a junior. Her 34 kills in a match is Ohio's second-best all-time.
She was also second-team All-Ohio as a sophomore.
For Mroski's career, the 6-2 middle hitter recorded 1,085 kills, 144 aces and 164 blocks.
Hubbard's record over her three years was 77-5, including 46-0 in TAC matches. The Eagles' streak of 150 matches spans the last nine years.
"She has never lost a TAC match," said Montgomery.
Last summer, Mroski played in Salt Lake City with the Ohio Valley Region High Performance team, a group that came away with a silver medal after losing to the U.S. junior national team.
While her specialty was as middle hitter at Hubbard, Mroski is expected to be a right-side hitter at Indiana. She doesn't think the adjustment will be that big.
"I played the right side on the High Performance team and I was a backup setter," Mroski said of the right side/opposite player's role. "Plus, I can block well."
Seven varsity letters
When she graduates, Mroski, the youngest daughter of Kathy and Robert Mroski, will have earned four letters in basketball and three in volleyball. Her ninth-grade season was with Hubbard's freshman squad.
"She's probably the most gifted player we've had in volleyball at Hubbard," Montgomery said. "She's developed a dynamite jump serve over the last few years and improved her passing immensely. She's not a super jumper, but Indiana likes her size and strength. In the Big 10 there are big girls. They need a big person blocking who won't get knocked down."
bassetti@vindy.com