Nora Wurtz is not a typical Varsity Corner athlete. She plays Varsity volleyball for DC West High School, but she and her family live on a farm outside of Valley, NE, and she has responsibilities that many other athletes don’t share. “My family raises Simmental and SimAngus cattle, so I am the official gate opener and tractor driver for the operation,” she shared. “I enjoy halter-breaking, feeding, and showing my calves in 4-H during the summer and watching them grow up into great cows.” She would love to find a career in working with animals.
She hopes someday to play Division 1 volleyball, but she started out her volleyball career with more humble beginnings. “We moved back to Nebraska from Texas in 2013 when I was in second grade, and I started playing volleyball at our local YMCA. I was really bad. I couldn’t even get the ball over the net serving underhand, but I fell in love with the sport. I wanted to get better, so I started doing the Youth Development Program for a few seasons at Nebraska Elite and improved from there.” Bob Wald, head volleyball coach for DC West, said, “Nora has a really great work ethic. She is never satisfied with what she does, and she wants to continue getting better and better every day. Nora can be very dominating at the net.”
When Wurtz began high school, she was worried about fitting in as a freshman. “I was so nervous. I thought the upperclassmen wouldn’t be very welcoming having a couple of freshmen on the team. During summer camps I quickly found that they were very supportive and encouraging. Throughout the season, we all developed close friendships and we had an amazing season.” She also splits her time with the DC West basketball team, riding horses, and hanging out with friends.
Wurtz is especially proud of starting on Varsity volleyball this year, making the Capitol Conference first team, and All-State Honorable Mention. “Sometimes practices and workouts seem to last forever, but reaching my goals make it all worth it.” She stays motivated by reaching her goals and “seeing my hard work in the gym and lessons pay off.” Her teammates’ support also gives her a drive to compete, “because I want to be better for them, too. We push each other to get better every day.”
