By Nathan Vaughan, News Staff

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This is the final article in the Huntington News male and female senior athlete spotlights, culminating with the male and female senior athletes of the year.

Lauren DeTurk was a’ force on the volleyball team for four years. She was a leader for the team and was named captain her senior year.
Her talents were also recognized by the conference, as she was named the Colonial Athletic Association’ (CAA) Player of the Year. DeTurk has left her marks at Northeastern in the record books and has improved every year, culminating in a record-breaking senior season.
‘ ‘Obviously, she is a terrific volleyball player, but if you look at her in the weight room or throwing the javelin, she is going to look like one of the most athletic kids out there,’ said head coach Ken Nichols. ‘More specifically, as a volleyball player she has the ability to not only dominate at the net, serve, tough in the pass and receive … aside from the fact that she earned it by being as talented as she is, she is a big and dominant presence.’
DeTurk came to Northeastern from the the beaches of California. The Yucaipa, Calif. native was recruited to Northeastern while playing beach volleyball. She also received interest from UC-Irvine, Georgetown, UC-Berkeley and volleyball powerhouse Stanford.
‘Whatever school you go to, it is what you make it,’ DeTurk said. ‘You get what you make yourself get out of it. I feel I did that [here at Northeastern.]’
As a biology major, classes have played a large role in her time here at Northeasten.
She is also working on a minor degree in education.’ Her goal is to get a job as a high school biology teacher and she said also hopes to go into coaching. This fall she is going to be the student assistant coach for the volleyball team.
‘ ‘I think [she] is the whole package,’ Nichols said. ‘She gave us a lot of help in the receive; we could go to her at any time. We had a pretty balanced offense, but if there was a go-to you would have to put Lauren at the top. She wasn’t a big scary player all the time but she was a very good steady player under great pressure and that is hard to replace. We are going to miss knowing that you can give it to Lauren and the vast majority of the time you are going be very pleased.’
Her true goal for after graduation is beach volleyball, she said. This weekend she flew out to California to play in a tournament, partnering with the daughter of her old club coach. Former Northeastern player Kristin Ursillo is also competing in the tournament.
DeTurk’s career ended with her’ atop the record books at Northeastern. She is second in kills with 1,330, behind Kristin Deatherage.
She is also in second behind Deatherage in total attempts, swinging 3,711 times. She is fourth all time in kills per set with 3.18. DeTurk showed her versatility by putting herself ninth all time in digs with 1,140.
‘I think that by improving every year, I don’t feel that I felt a lot of pressure my senior season that I had to step up,’ DeTurk said. ‘I didn’t have to do a lot more than I did in years past.’
With her volleyball eligibility having run out, she has joined the track and field team as the newest javelin thrower.
DeTurk is new to the sport, and as a result, she is working to improve and has set personal records every meet. She said she is looking forward to the CAA meet next weekend.
‘I think being on a volleyball team like Northeastern allowed me to do more of what I wanted to, become the person I more wanted to become,’ DeTurk said. ‘I had the opportunity to become captain, which wouldn’t normally happen, I don’t think, on any other team that wanted me. [With] this experience I’ve had as captain I’ve really learned about myself … that is one of the main things I gained in my four years.’
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