Graduate student middle blocker Ireland Hieb left college volleyball, but volleyball didn’t leave her.

After graduating with her sports management degree from Eastern in 2023, Hieb started working full-time after initially interning at a recreation center in Savoy. Not totally letting volleyball go, Hieb would play league and tournaments occasionally.

“I’ve been playing the whole summer,” Hieb said. “Grass, beach [and] indoor, because I can’t stay away from it. I love it so much.”

After COVID-19, all athletes in college during the 2019 year received a COVID-19 year to use, meaning they had an extra year of eligibility to play in college.

Over the summer, while the volleyball coaching staff was analyzing their roster and positions, they wanted another middle blocker.

There were only three on the roster in sophomore Julia Stanev and junior transfers Manon Braunsteffer and Emma Schroeder.

Eastern’s coaching staff decided they would have four total middle blockers on the roster.

Associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Manolo Concepcion said bringing someone back to the team that already knows the culture, the practice schedule and has the work ethic to continue to improve and help out the team would be the best fit within the program.

“Why not bring someone that is extremely familiar with our culture, with our program, with how we train and develop, and someone that we know that can actually do it in this conference, like Ireland?” Concepcion said.

Concepcion and head coach Sara Thomas thought it was the perfect time to bring Hieb back and to let her use her COVID-19 year of eligibility.

After making a few calls to Eastern’s compliance offices, to make sure this is something that could happen, Thomas got the green light to ask Hieb if she wanted to be back on the team.

It took one phone call from Thomas and Concepcion, and Hieb was in shock.

“I was over the moon,” Hieb said. “I was ecstatic. It was a crazy situation because I was working and doing big girl things, but my job was supportive of me. They said, ‘Go play. It’s here waiting for you when you come back.’”

Coming back to play for Eastern, Hieb immediately took the leadership role, as one of the older women on a fairly new team.

Throughout her time at Eastern, she has recorded 468 kills, 110 digs and 19 blocks.

Hieb continues to be the role model for the team and to help them better themselves and the team as whole.

Hieb emphasized team values and connection as soon as she got back, but she also emphasized technical growth from the coaching staff. 

“I put the team first,” Hieb said. “I work hard for my girls, for my coaches [and] for the program; it’s what’s best for the team,” she said. “If it’s not me playing in a game, I’m going to be as supportive as I can be. Everyone wants to play, we love volleyball, but it’s not the end all be all.”

Thomas believes with Hieb taking a year off to work, occasionally playing and coaching club volleyball, she saw improvements, but most of all, Thomas saw a difference in maturity level in Hieb.

“She’s smarter off the court, her IQ has improved, and she is so willing to learn and to keep getting better,” Thomas said. “And that’s going to make anybody a better athlete [and] a better human. If you’re a really great learner, you’re eager to keep getting better.”

Concepcion also believes that Hieb taking this year off led to her understanding the game more and helping lead the team thus far in the season.

“From the technique’s perspective, this rest has allowed her to jump more, and her reading skills have improved tremendously,” Concepcion said. “In the general idea of things, these few years have allowed her to understand the game from a different perspective. She’s the manager at the rec center she works at, so she has learned to manage and lead people. That type of environment has allowed her to get better at those things that had nothing to do with her playing time, but more to do with her as a teammate as well.”

With Eastern’s volleyball team having many resources, Heib has grown into the player she is now.

With the analytical support and help from Concepcion and assistant coach and performance analyst Ignacio Valdemoros, Hieb understands the why behind the metrics and analytics with everything that goes on behind the scenes in the sport itself.

“There’s so many little things that go behind just playing volleyball,” Hieb said. “That’s another big thing. [Concepcion is] so specific about things, and that’s what I really like, because I want to know the reason behind why I am doing things, [and] how I am doing things.”

With a fairly new team that consists of a handful of both freshman and transfer students, Hieb understands how the newer players feel, and what they are going through.

“There’s going to be hard times, everyone goes through that,” Hieb said. “But knowing that we get through it together, playing with them is great.”

Payton Liggins can be reached at 581-2812 or at paliggins@eiu.edu.