Senior hopes to be key for Titans

Kasey Jurich is torn between her two great loves.

The University High senior loves the game of volleyball with all of her heart. Just as much as she loves the game of basketball.

“People assume that I like one sport more than the other, but I honestly couldn’t tell you which one I like more,” she said. “I love both of them.”

As an outside hitter for the Titans, 5-foot-8 Jurich has been All-Greater Spokane League selection the past two years – a second-team pick after her junior season and a first-time pick this fall. She helped lead the team to within one match of reaching the state tournament – playing on a sprained ankle on the tournament’s final day.

She’s been an important contributor to a basketball program that has been one of the state’s elite – playing on teams that have gone a collective 77-10 the past three seasons, bringing home trophies for second, third and sixth from the state Class 4A tournament.

As a sophomore, Jurich stepped in early in the season when the Titans were wracked with injuries and helped the team weather the first month of the season, ultimately allowing the team to go 25-4 and place third at the state tournament, losing to Snohomish in the state semifinals and knocking off Auburn-Riverside in the consolation game.

In March she led the Titans in scoring in their championship-game loss to Lewis and Clark, tossing in 10 points.

“I would love to go on and play both (sports) in college,” Jurich said. “I know just how difficult that would be since the two sports overlap so much. At the college level they each go year-around. I’m going to have to take a good hard look at the opportunities I have and I think it will ultimately come down to the school and what educational opportunities there are there.”

For now, she said, she’s concentrating on playing basketball and getting over the ankle she injured on the final day of her high school volleyball career.

“We’re really taking it easy right now,” she said. “We talked it over with my coaches, and we decided that what we ultimately want is for me to be able to play at the end of the season. If that means not playing so much now so I can heal up, fine. Right now I’m taping it every day and wearing a brace on it. It’s healing up, but it’s taking time.

“This is the first time I’ve ever sprained an ankle – the first time I’ve ever had an injury, really. I’ve been pretty lucky.”

Jurich is one of five seniors on this year’s U-Hi squad – a group that is dedicated to continuing the program’s record of success. More than a half-dozen of Jurich’s high school basketball teammates have gone on to play at the college level.

Former teammates Jami and Angie Bjorklund, for example, will be in opposing starting lineups Sunday when Gonzaga plays at defending NCAA champion Tennessee Sunday. Angie Bjorklund was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after leading the Lady Vols in scoring, rebounds and steals in their victory over No. 24 Old Dominion. Former teammate Tonya Schnibbe starts at Weber State and Dara Zack now averages 7.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game off the bench for Saint Martin’s.

Closer to home, her brother, U-Hi grad Calvin, is a 6-6 junior at Whitworth.

“I can think of six or seven of my former teammates playing college sports, and I think there are a couple more I’m not thinking of,” Jurich said. “They helped establish a tradition here for this program and we’re all dedicated to carrying it forward.”

For the Titans, that means striving to get the most from every drill while having fun. Between drills there are smiles and laughter all around; once a drill starts it’s all business.

“You have to have fun or there’s no reason to be out there,” Jurich said. “At the same time, we have to be serious about making ourselves better if we’re going to reach our goal and get back to the state tournament.

“We lost some incredible players from last year, but we have some good talent on this team.”

This year’s team has a strong inside game, with two players checking in at 6-feet and three over 5-11.

“Right now we’re still learning to play together, but we’re getting better every game,” she said. “I like where this team is right now and I’m excited about what we can accomplish.”

In the end, she said, she hopes to be faced with the one choice she can’t bring herself to make: decide which sports she wants to pursue.

“I hope I get that chance,” she said.