From candy to the court, volleyball player Lauren Borik has made an impact on her friends, family and team.
Despite being a two-time SLIAC Player of the Year, Borik isn’t done setting records. On Oct. 6, Borik recorded her 1,000th kill. Webster University Athletics states that Borik is the seventh player in program history to achieve this milestone.
For non-volleyball players, a kill in volleyball is much less violent than the name sounds. Merry Graf, head coach of volleyball at Webster University, clarified the term.
“A kill (K) is awarded to a player any time an attack is unreturnable by the opposition and is a direct cause of the opponent not returning the ball, or any time the attack leads directly to a blocking error by the opposition. A kill leads directly to a point,” Graf said.
Borik is in her fourth year at Webster University entering into her first year as a graduate student, but she has played volleyball since third grade. She said that her inspirations are her family and teammates, who support her volleyball career.
“[My family members] come to all my games, they paid for me to join club volleyball so I want to make them proud, but [I’m also inspired by] my teammates because I look up to them,” Borik said.
Her humble attitude towards volleyball shows in her accomplishments. Borik has accomplished a lot in her volleyball career, including two SLIAC player of the week awards this season while battling an injury. However, when describing her proudest moment, Borik promoted her team’s accomplishments before her own.
“I’m proud that every year, the team makes it to the tournament, and that we compete and give it our all, even if we don’t give it all. Personally, [my proudest moment] would probably be getting my 1,000th kill just because I had worked so hard,” Borik said.
Borik isn’t just a great volleyball player, however. Senior Emma Leppien, a teammate and friend of Borik, shared what kind of a person Borik is off the court.
“She is always there for you no matter what,” Leppien said. “I know personally, whenever I have a question or need her help, she will be there for me,” Leppien said.
When Borik got her 1,000th kill, both Leppien and Graf expressed their excitement.
“ I was very happy to see her achieve that goal,” Graf said. “I know it was something she really wanted, and since she had a reduced season her sophomore year due to COVID and has also dealt with an injury, it was great to see her reach that mark with fewer games than some other players on that list.”
“I was happy for her,” Leppien said. “That’s a pretty big milestone for someone, and I’m just happy and proud of her for doing that.”
Borik’s team described her with words like dependable, hardworking, funny and knowledgeable about volleyball. However, the one thing that both Leppien and Graf said with a smile is that Borik loves candy.
“She is a very picky eater, but she loves her candy. Always when she comes off the court, she goes and eats her candy, and I just love that,” Leppien said. “She is also a good uno points player. Uno points is whenever we win a drill during practice. Whenever you are on a team with Lauren, you’ll pretty much win.”
From a dominant player on the court to a candy lover and dependable friend, Graf and Leppien both described Borik in one sentence.
“ Lauren is an amazing, bright young woman that happens to also be a dynamic volleyball player,” Graf said.
“Lauren is a hard worker and a dependable person. She always pushes you on the court and makes us better players and is just always there for you,” Leppien said.
Borik said her goals after graduation include working for a major sports team in St. Louis such as the Cardinals or the Blues.