Not bad for Lavaja's plan C

When you are 6-foot-7, athletically gifted and have a 37-inch vertical leap like Rusty Lavaja, not playing a sport is out of the question.

The St. Charles North senior was a football and baseball player until he injured his back a few years ago and was forced to quit the sports he knew best.

Then came volleyball.

Lavaja was not that familiar with volleyball, but it was the only limited contact sport he could still play.

His friends, current North Star volleyball players Louis Bisceglie and Brett Ellis, played, so he thought he'd give it a shot.

Besides, why waste all that height?

"I figured I'd try something new," said Lavaja, who also played varsity basketball this year but did not see a lot of time on the court. "I decided to play just for fun."

"Just for fun" turned into playing for a top club team, being the North Stars' go-to man this year and a scholarship to Brigham Young University in Utah in just a matter of two years.

"It's incredible," St. Charles North's outside hitter Austin Collingborne said. "At first, (Lavaja) was like, 'What's volleyball?' and the next thing you know, he goes to a camp, gets recruited and is going to BYU with his 6-foot-7, 37-inch vertical leap -- that's a scholarship in itself.

"He's new to the sport, but it doesn't matter because he's such a phenomenal athlete. You can't teach tall. He knows what he's doing out there."

Lavaja's first year with the North Stars' program was when he was a sophomore on the sophomore team. He made varsity last year as a middle hitter, and the difference in his game in just one year was incredible.

"He came back as a junior and made (the Upstate Eight's) all-conference (team)," Mitchell said. "It was like, 'What's going on?' Rusty is one of those who said, 'Yeah, I'm going to go out for volleyball' and really committed to it and ended up being an awesome player for us."

Thank club volleyball for that, as Lavaja dedicated the off-season to playing for Sports Performance.

"I figured I might as well try to get better," Lavaja said of playing club.

His height and natural athletic ability were already present, but Lavaja said learning the actual skills required for volleyball took a bit longer than expected.

"Once I got that down, I started to progress," Lavaja said.

Mitchell said Lavaja is a quick learner, and when someone shows him how to do something, he does it accurately the first time.

"He gets it," Mitchell said. "He's intelligent in the athletic part of all of it. It all just comes together. He knows where he should be and what he should do.

"There are some kids who become a natural at whatever given sport it is and Rusty, in general, is an athlete."

In his junior year with the North Stars, Lavaja finished with 201 kills, 11 aces, 29 digs and 80 blocks.

This year through 5 matches, Lavaja has 42 kills, 4 aces, 21 digs and 11 blocks.

Lavaja's numbers are going to increase from last year, and so has his leadership role. He was an exclusive middle last year, but this year, he's both a middle and outside hitter.

"He's more useful this year," Collingborne said. "We can send a lot more sets to him…if we are in a fix, we give the ball to Rusty."

"He's our go-to guy, obviously," St. Charles North setter/outside hitter Kegan Haeseli added. "He definitely makes us a better team in practice. He doesn't go easy on us."

In other words, Lavaja's kills pack a powerful punch.

"He hits the ball so hard, half the (opposing) teams can't pass it," Collingborne said.

All the above convinced BYU to sign Lavaja, who thought his future college would be perfect for him not only for volleyball, but for academics as well. He said he plans on studying business.

"The level of volleyball there is top-notch, and it doesn't get any better than that," said Lavaja, who chose BYU over Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne. "I took a visit to both schools and BYU seemed like the better place for me."

"It's really amazing," Mitchell added. "All the pieces just fell in line with each other -- being athletic, being able to pick things up quickly and his natural ability. All those things fell in line for him."