UMAC 10-Year Academic Profile: Emily VerWay, Wisconsin-Superior
Each Friday throughout 2018-19 as part of the “UMAC 10-Year Celebration”, the conference will highlight the people who have made an impact on the league and make it a special community to be a part of. This feature series focuses on UMAC alumni who have used their Division III experience following the conclusion of their careers.
Story by Jon Garver, Wisconsin-Superior Athletics Communications
When you think of Emily VerWay, you think volleyball. Thousands of assists. So many UMAC Setter of the Week awards you have to take your shoes off to count them. A player that celebrates big points on the court like no other. Dig (she had plenty of those on the court, too) a little deeper, however, and you will find there is more to her than what you see on the volleyball court.
A lot more.
Excavation unearthed a person of incredible depth, with varying interests; a person who embodies the qualities and values of a UW-Superior liberal arts education possibly more than any other student-athlete on campus.
Campus – let’s start there. VerWay turned some heads within the familial unit when she reached her decision to attend UW-Superior.
“It was a big struggle for me to decide where I was going to go, whether it be a Christian-based or a secular university. My whole family attended Bob Jones University, a Christian university in Greenville, South Carolina,” VerWay said. “I prayed a lot. I talked to people I trusted, and the message was the same – I needed to trust in God and he was going to lead me where I needed to be.”
And where she needed to be was UW-Superior. Volleyball was one part of the decision, but the university’s music department also played a significant role.
“I made my visit up here and I just felt really comfortable with everything. The players on the volleyball team made me feel like I was part of things right away,” VerWay said. “And the move to the UMAC really helped me with that decision, too. I knew I was going to have a chance to play right away and the program was going to be in a conference where it could compete.
“But that was only part of it for me. I had the chance to meet with some of the music faculty when I was here and they were really personable. Dr. Beth Gilbert, who was the chair of the department at the time and the others I talked to made me feel at home. UW-Superior provided me a great place to have the balance I wanted, and it was close to home. It meant a lot to be able to have my parents at almost every home match in my four years.”
VerWay stepped foot on campus for the 2015 fall semester and took the athletics department by storm, appearing in every match and earning UMAC Rookie of the Year and All-UMAC First Team honors. She would play in 125 matches, and in the process be named All-UMAC First Team four times. She finished among the university’s all-time leaders in assists with 3,930, and showed how well rounded a player she was by contributing 1,180 digs on defense.
A highlight on the court? That’s an easy one.
“The win over Northwestern this year was the biggest volleyball highlight of my four years. It was dreamlike. I woke up the next day and was checking the reports to make sure it actually happened and that it wasn’t still game day and the whole thing was a dream,” she said of the home victory that snapped Northwestern’s 65-match conference winning streak. “I was seeing it in the articles and on social media so I knew it was real. It’s a win that will always be special and a win that definitely will leave a mark on the program.”
VerWay would also be named to the UMAC All-Academic Team four times. She began her UW-Superior academic journey as a music major, specializing in the piano.
“I came to school thinking I would either major in business or music because I really liked both and could see myself going both ways professionally. Music has always been important to me, and everyone in my family, so in the end music was what I wanted to do,” she said.
It didn’t stay that way for long.
“I was talking to my dad and he said that he didn’t want me to be missing out on anything good, so maybe I should look outside music,” VerWay said. “So I talked to my advisor and prayed about it and decided I would change my major to business with a music minor.”
The change sent VerWay into the UW-Superior School of Business and Economics, where her focus would be on the business management program, preparing her for the corporate world. But the music itch just couldn’t be scratched, and the minor wasn’t enough.
Time for another change.
“I thought I would be able to double major, so I decided to do that and major in both business management and music,” she said.
That means you have weeks where class projects, papers, and recitals walk side-by-side. Still, VerWay wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s allowed me to do so many different things,” she said. “Performing with some of the students and professors we have here has been great for me and my development.”
And a highlight off the court? Another easy one.
“I had the chance to be on stage with the Mesabi Symphony Orchestra. To be on stage with those incredible musicians and be a soloist with them is one of the highlights, not just of my time here but of my life,” she said. “It’s one of those things I got to do that I never would have dreamed of growing up.”
VerWay will graduate from UW-Superior with honors, and her experiences from both the school of business and the music department will give her options, but she still isn’t certain on a career path.
“If I go the business route I would like to eventually be a project manager. I want to be in a position where I get to work one-on-one with people,” she said. “If I stay with music, I want to help kids with personal betterment. Music lessons are expensive and I would like to be in a position where I can offer them for free and help kids who can’t afford them.”
A fitting route – a setter giving out more assists.
UMAC 10-Year Celebration Website