Senior Brooke Waldack is a four-year member of the Justice varsity volley­ball team and earned first team All-District and second team All-Region during the 2020–2021 season. The varsity volley­ball team currently has an impres­sive record of thir­teen wins and zero losses, and Brooke has been an inte­gral part of the team’s success.

“Brooke adds a differ­ent level of deter­mi­na­tion to the team, they’re always dead set on a win even against the tough­est teams,” said junior team­mate Lucy Ammon. “They’re loud and posi­tive every time they step onto the court.”

In addi­tion to contribut­ing to the team’s points during games, Brooke is said to be an encour­ag­ing and depend­able team­mate on and off the court. “They never back down from an oppor­tu­nity to support their team­mates,” Ammon said.

Brooke has played volley­ball for nine years and has been a member of club teams since 7^th grade. Stick­ing with a sport for that long and contin­u­ing to develop as a player requires great dedi­ca­tion and hard work.

“My inter­nal moti­va­tion comes from my natural compet­i­tive­ness, I see every game and prac­tice as an oppor­tu­nity to push myself to become the best I can be,” said Waldack. “My exter­nal moti­va­tion would be my team. I want to be able to be a reli­able team­mate that my team can turn to when they need it most.”

Being on the varsity team all four years at Justice, Brooke reflects back on their growth as a player.

“I’ve become a lot more confi­dent in my play­ing. I know many athletes can relate to lack­ing confi­dence when they’re younger in their sport, and I think find­ing my confi­dence in volley­ball has helped me really blos­som not only on the court, but as well as in the class­room,” said Waldack. “I really could not have found that confi­dence with­out such an amaz­ing and support­ive team and set of coaches behind me.”

Having coached Brooke for four years, varsity volley­ball coach Shari Ponton has witnessed this growth of confi­dence and talent.

“Brooke has worked hard over the past four years to improve their skills and compete at a higher level. [They’ve] matured into a deter­mined and account­able volley­ball athlete and team­mate,” Ponton said.

The varsity volley­ball team’s success stems from the chem­istry and cama­raderie between the athletes. Indi­vid­ual talent is certainly note­wor­thy, but their 12–0 record would not be possi­ble with­out the devo­tion of the team as a whole.

“Brooke contributes both offen­sively and defen­sively to the success of our team. [They] don’t do this in isola­tion, and are supported by a solid group of team­mates, but [they] compete at a high level which elevates the play of those around [them],” said Ponton. “Our team is filled with athletes that comple­ment each other’s skills on the court and support each other off the court,”

Watch out for Brooke compet­ing for Justice’s indoor track team in the winter as well as the girl’s lacrosse team in the spring!