NIL Opportunities
2022 (Sophomore): Recorded one of the best individual seasons in Horizon League history… Became the first player in program history to be named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, and she was also the first Penguin ever to be named First-Team All-Region… Was the first Penguin to be named Conference Player of the Year since 1995... Also named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-Horizon League… Earned Horizon League All-Academic honors and was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team… Ranked third in the country in kills per set and points per set… Was also in the top 10 nationally in attacks per set (fifth), total points (sixth), total attacks (ninth), and total kills (fifth)… Set school records for kills and points in a season as well as kills and points in a match… Set the HorizoN league record for most kills in a season during the 25-point rally-scoring era with 576… Her 35 kills at Northern Kentucky were the most ever by a conference player in a 25-point rally-scoring match… Became the fastest player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills when she reached the feat on Nov. 11 in a match against Northern Kentucky… Was named the Horizon League Player of the Week six times during the season, which tied for the most for a season in conference history… Named to all-tournament teams at the YSU / DoubleTree Youngstown Volleyball Invitational, the Billiken Invitational and the Western New York Invitational… Transferred to Hawaii before the 2023 season.
2021 (Freshman): Voted to the All-Horizon League First Team and All-Freshman Team… Was YSU's first all-league honoree since 2014 and the first member of the all-freshman squad since 2015… Played in every set and started every match in one of the best seasons by a player regardless of class in program history… Totaled 430 kills while hitting .208 from the left pin, and added 50 aces, 239 digs, 36 blocks, 26 assists… Averaged 4.06 kills, 0.47 aces, 2.52 digs, 0.33 blocks and 0.25 assists per set… Against Horizon League competition, averaged 3.98 kills on a .218 attack percentage, 0.41 aces, 2.06 digs, 0.38 blocks and 0.21 assists per set… Her 4.06 kills and 4.70 points per set were both tops in the Horizon League… Was just the second freshman since 2010 to lead the Horizon League in kills per set, and she was the only freshman in that time frame to pace the conference in points per set... On the national level, only three freshmen in the country had more total kills or kills per set than Gursching… Also ranked third in the country among freshmen in points per set… Against conference teams, Gursching led all freshmen and ranked third overall with 3.98 kills per set and 4.59 points per set… Named a Horizon League Player of the Week twice - on Nov. 10 and Sept. 22… Earned all-tournament team honors at the Golden Flashes Invitational, Blue & Gold Tournament, Chippewa Invitational, YSU / DoubleTree-Youngstown Invitational… Caught the national spotlight when she recorded 13 aces as part of a triple-double that included 18 kills and 11 digs in a four-set win over Duquesne on Sept. 17… Her 13 aces were the most by a Division I player in a match of any length since 2015, and they were the most in a four-set match since 2003... Only four Division I student-athletes have ever had more aces in a four-set match… Gursching joined Josi Borum (spring 2021) and Karla Everhart (2008) as the only known players in program history to have a triple-double... Added one block assist to bring her point total to 31.5, which is a school record for points in a four-set match… Broke 14 school records… Shattered the previous school record for kills by a freshman by 67, topping Ruth Boscaljon's previous mark of 363 that was set in 2006… Gursching's 430 kills were the third-most in program history, the most since 1998 and the most since volleyball switched to rally scoring in 2001… Her 4.06 kills per set was the fourth-best average for a season and a record for rally scoring… Her 498.5 points and 4.70 points per set were the fourth-best marks in school history and the top in the rally-scoring era… Reached double digits in kills in 22 matches, and she surpassed eight times… Had between 23 and 27 kills in four consecutive matches from Oct. 30 through Nov. 12… Prior to the season, a YSU freshman had at least 20 kills just twice in a four-set match in 20 years of rally scoring, and Gursching got 20 in a four-setter five times… Her career high in kills was 27, which she achieved twice - in a four-setter against Robert Morris on Nov. 5 that set the school record for most kills in a four-set rally-scoring match and again on Nov. 12 in a five-setter versus Green Bay… Also had a career-best 16 digs against the Phoenix on Nov. 12 in her last of 11 double-digit digs performances during the year… Had nine double-doubles in addition to her triple double… Her best block total was four, which she achieved twice.
Before YSU: Competed on the German junior national team, on both the indoor and beach circuits... Helped the beach team to a ninth-place finish at the U18/U19 junior championship... Competed at the club level with TG Bad Soden in the 2. Bundesliga in 2020 and helped her team to a sixth-place finish at the Junior German Championship.
Personal: Parents are Ralph and Barbara... Has a sister (Hannah)... Major is business.
