“You can’t control what you can’t control,” Lara Verstovsek says. What this senior captain and outside hitter for the Brandeis volleyball team can control is her performance on the court — and this season has been another stellar one for Verstovsek so far. 

A native of Houston, Texas, where she attended Episcopal High School, Verstovsek has played vol- leyball for 11 years and enters her senior season with the Judges as an established leader. She has already made history on the Brandeis volleyball team: during the 2023-24 season, she broke the Brandeis record for kills made in a three-set match with 22 kills last Sept. 29. However, Verstovsek highlights her most recent record as her proud- est accomplishment: she recently met the 1000 kill mark and will add her name to the Brandeis sports history book as the 10th Judges volleyball player to achieve this. 

Having faith in her teammates, who she calls “her sisters,” is big for Verstovsek. She says that to her, being a team means “being there for [eacho- ther] during [their] highest highs and [their] lowest lows, no matter the circumstance.” She affirms that the Brandeis volleyball team is like a family to her, adopting an “everything happens for a reason” per- spective as she trusts that “even before they were teammates, they were always sisters first.” Verstovsek strikes a balance between faith and control in her game. She knows that she cannot control how the other team attacks or defends, but that “not being on the same side as [your] opponent really allows you to lean on and depend on [your team], whether that’s for confidence, discipline, en- ergy or even some laughs.” She says that “it’s really nice to be able to always focus on what’s happening on our side of the court first.” 

As Verstovsek stormed past the 1000 kill mark early on in the season, there can only be much more in store for her and the Brandeis volleyball team. Verstovsek also leads the Judges in service aces, 21, and contributes important blocks and digs for the team as well. She is ultimately motivated by her dream of becoming an All-American, which “is a goal [she] has always had for herself,” and also aspires to lead the Judges to a bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament. 

Cheer on Verstovsek and the Judges as they fight to improve their 7-4 winning record this weekend versus Endicott College and Babson College on Sept. 21. Their first test against fellow University Athletic Association teams will come in two weeks as they face the University of Chicago, New York University and Carnegie Mellon University in a UAA Round Robin.