Slaveck eager to play volleyball at Colby College

SANDPOINT — When senior volleyball player Jenny Slaveck began looking for where she wanted to spend the next four years of her life after high school, she used everyone’s favorite search engine — Google.

She then typed in “the best liberal arts colleges in the country.” After some extensive research she found Colby College, a liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. She then sent them and a few other schools in the New England Small College Athletic Conference her volleyball film.

It didn’t take long for Slaveck to realize Colby was the right fit for her.

“It was the perfect balance of academics and athletics, where I could really push myself academically but also get to compete at a high level,” she said.

Slaveck celebrated her commitment to attend Colby on Friday at Sandpoint High.

Despite being a star on Sandpoint’s volleyball team throughout her high school career and earning all-league honors this past season, Slaveck entered the college recruiting process with a mindset of academics over athletics. She wanted to attend a school that allowed her to follow her passion while still being able to play the sport she loves.

The Division III school afforded her that opportunity and she plans on majoring in economics at Colby. After she graduates from Colby, she wants to attend business school so she can pursue her dream of starting her own nonprofit organization aimed at helping kids and families who lose a parent from cancer.

Slaveck’s dad, Andrew, passed away from cancer when she was in eighth grade.

Slaveck began playing volleyball when she was in third grade, the first year it was available to her. And she hasn’t stopped since.

“I would pepper with my dad, which is passing back and forth, in the garage and then I was like, oh this is a sport I could really see myself in so I just kept playing,” Slaveck said.

The Mules aren’t necessarily known for having a dominant volleyball program but Slaveck wants to help the team win a NESCAC league title, make it to the NCAA Division III Tournament and eventually claim a national title.

Lofty goals but Slaveck has never been afraid of shooting for the stars and a new $200 million athletic facility set to open on the campus this fall could certainly help her and the rest of the team accomplish those aspirations.

Slaveck is moving to the other side of the country so of course her mother, Mary, is going to miss her daughter and worry about her every day. But Slaveck is looking forward to making new friends and starting the next chapter of her life after she wraps up her senior season this spring playing tennis for the Bulldogs.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “It’s going to be really good to get to be on the east coast and see what the culture of living is like ... I think it will be difficult at first, but it’s such a good experience to get to go live somewhere else for four years and get to experience something new.”