Volleyball
Favorite athlete: Simeon Nikolov
Favorite team: Long Beach Men's Volleyball Team
Favorite memory competing in sports: Playing with my two younger sisters in an outdoor quads match and beating the second best team in the league
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: During one of our most intense games, I was so sweaty that whenever I dove for a ball, I left a giant wet mark that had to be wiped up.
Music on playlist: A mix of songs from the 2000s and 2010s
Future plans: I plan to go into dentistry and start a family.
Words to live by: "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." -Proverbs 4:23
One goal before turning 30: Witness a miracle
One thing people don’t know about me: I love watching sad movies and find crying therapeutic.
By Mary Jane Souder
Madlen Potrusilova.
Mention the name to Jynell Brunt, and the North Penn volleyball coach doesn’t immediately talk about her senior captain’s accomplishments on the court. She doesn’t mention Potrusilova’s role in the Knights’ run to the SOL Continental Conference crown and her selection as the conference Player of the Year. She makes no reference to the senior’s versatility and her ability to play every position on the court from setter to outside hitter, libero to middle hitter.
She certainly could have since all are true, but none of that according to Brunt, is what stands out the most.
“More than anything, it’s her attitude, her personality,” the Knights’ coach said. “When I first met her, she’s so friendly and so nice, and you question – is this genuine? But it is.
“She is absolutely one of the nicest, most genuine people I’ve ever met. She’s really sweet, and she brings that to the team. She’s kind to everyone, she’s always positive and encouraging, and it’s real. I’ve never seen anything but that from her.”
Throw in the fact that Potrusilova also excels on the volleyball court, and it’s safe to say Brunt had to feel as though Christmas arrived early when the now senior transferred to North Penn as a sophomore after spending her elementary and middle school years at Calvary Baptist, a private Christian school.
Potrusilova credits her ninth grade volleyball season at Calvary Baptist as a significant time in her development as a player.
“The coach really believed in me, and I think she saw my potential,” Potrusilova said. “So even though I wasn’t great, she actually made me a starter on the varsity team as a freshman.
“I think that really grew me as a player, so that when I transitioned to North Penn in 10th grade, I was able to be a starter and had a lot of experience playing and being in tough matches.”
As a result, the transition from a small private school to one of the largest high schools in Pennsylvania was a smooth one for Potrusilova.
“I was really excited about going to a big public school since my school at Calvary was very tiny and a close-knit class, but I actually really enjoy the size and the many opportunities I have at North Penn,” she said. “I’ve made a lot of great friends and just have had a great time.”
Back to the beginning
The second of four sisters, Potrusilova got her first taste of competitive sports participating in gymnastics and swimming.
“When I was really little, my parents put me into gymnastics and swimming, and I think it was just to get coordination and
stuff like that, but to be honest, I was never the athletic kid,” Potrusilova said. “I was kind of known for being clumsy and a little – like chunky.”
In fifth grade, she was introduced to volleyball by her best friend.
“Her mom was the coach for our school’s middle school team,” Potrusilova said. “She was telling me about volleyball and how fun it is, and I think that’s when it started. It clicked in my head – okay, this might be fun.
“In sixth grade, I tried out, and miraculously, I got on the team. I have no idea how since I’d never played. My mom played in high school too, but she never really got us into it. I tried it out, and I absolutely fell in love. Volleyball has been the only sport I’ve played since then. I was considering playing soccer, but after I found volleyball, I was like – ‘Nope.’”
Potrusilova joined the club circuit with East Coast Power in eighth grade, and that’s where Brunt had her first opportunity to coach her now senior captain.
“When I had her in club, she played almost every position for me,” the Knights’ coach said. “I used her as a libero for a little bit. I’ve used her as a setter. I’ve used her as a hitter.
“She could play any position on the court that we needed her to play, but this year and last year, we used her as an outside hitter who played her own back row. I think we used her for a libero for a little bit last year, but she’s just too good in the front row to only use on defense. She can set, she can hit middle. Those are the two hardest positions. She can do everything.”
A season to remember
The Knights won 14 straight games to open the season this fall and rolled to an SOL Continental Conference title that was – to say the least – unexpected. And a far cry from last year when the Knights were 7-5 and in third place in the conference standings and 9-10 overall.
“Just the difference between 10th and 11th grade and now this season was enormous because we always – in the past - won half our games and lost the other half, so we were an okay team,” Potrusilova said. “The thing is – we were absolutely stacked with players. I think people expected a lot out of us since we had a lot of amazing players who did all sorts of things, and for whatever reason, it never clicked.
“This year, actually, we all came into the season as kind of – ‘Okay, we lost a lot of really good players. This season is going to be a growing season.’ We won our first match of the season against Lansdale Catholic. The game was incredible, and I think we realized – okay, we might actually be able to do something, and we really did. It was an unprecedented season.”
The Knights’ first win of the season over Lansdale Catholic in five sets set the tone for a season to remember.
“The postseason didn’t work out as we had hoped since we dropped out in the second round of the playoffs,” Potrusilova said. “But I still think what we accomplished was incredible, and our undefeated streak – we managed to keep it for 14 games - is pretty darn impressive.”
Potrusilova played a major role in her team’s success on the court and - perhaps more importantly - as a leader and team captain.
“Coming into the season, I didn’t think we would do much, and so I just really wanted to focus on us doing our absolute best,” she said. “I was like – okay, we need to be encouraging because when we’re not encouraging and when there’s not a sense of positivity and ‘we can do this,’ it all just falls apart.
“ I tried to keep people accountable, but I saw my main role as being the encourager, especially since I have a great fellow captain (Belle Mikulski), and she is just so on top of everyone – in a good way – like super nicely, but she’s kind of like the strict one to my encouraging, so I think we worked well together.”
Although not the tallest player on the court, Potrusilova excelled as an outside hitter, earning second team all-league honors as a junior and first team this year.
“She’s maybe 5-7 or 5-8, and for volleyball, that’s not tall, but she’s got a really great vertical jump,” Brunt said. “She’s just an athlete, and she works really hard. Her mechanics are all really good.”
Although she found a home on the outside, Potrusilova enjoyed her time playing libero.
“I think that if I was to live another life, I would be a libero, but I love outside,” she said.
If there was a high point in the season, it came – according to Potrusilova – with back-to-back wins over Boyertown and CB West.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played better in my life, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the girls on the team play any better,” she said. “Everyone was doing just incredible. We were all just flowing so amazingly.”
Looking ahead
Despite her talents on the volleyball court, Potrusilova does not plan on playing at the collegiate level.
“I decided to go into dentistry, so I really want to focus on my academics,” she said. “But I think I’ll play volleyball recreationally for the rest of my life.”
There were early signs dentistry might be in her future.
“I’ve always loved the dentist when I was a kid,” Potrusilova said. “It was literally my favorite place. When my mom told me we were going to the dentist I would just shriek from excitement.
“I know it sounds weird, but I promise you. I love everything about it. I love working with people and I love how it’s almost like arts and crafts but also scientific. It’s just perfect.”
An outstanding student, Potrusilova was named a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student. She has taken eight AP classes and next year plans to major in some form of biology or kinesiology.
Outside of school, Potrusilova volunteers at her church and is a small group leader.
“I do a bunch of day camps with kids at my church,” she said. “I’m on the dance team, and I teach kids songs. I would say that’s my passion. I really love working with children, which is another reason why I want to go into dentistry and possibly pediatric dentistry.”
Although she no longer plays club volleyball, Potrusilova is a practice player for the club team of her sister Sophie, who is 11 months younger and was also a member of the Knights’ varsity.
Next fall, Sophie will once again be joined by a sister on the squad since Natalie will be in ninth grade, both following in the footsteps of their sister, who leaves behind quite a legacy.
“One of the things that I think made our team so successful this year - I don’t remember one game, even when we lost, that there was negativity or finger-pointing,” Brunt said. “You often see that - you can see the girls are getting upset, you can see them start to snap at each other, but to have someone like Madlen who everyone respects and knows is a genuine person say, ‘Hey, guys, it’s fine. We’ll get the next one,’ and she just is constantly encouraging and positive, keeping everyone’s spirits up. The mental game is so huge, and she’s phenomenal as a leader.”
