FACULTY FOCUS
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Legally blind PAC champ has 20/20 focus BY NATHAN LARICCIA | SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR
T
hrough the half-focused volleyball net, you see the opponent orchestrating an offensive attack: dig, set, attack. The opponent’s hitter directs the ball at you, hoping it finds the ground for a point. Time stands still. You remember passing around the volleyball with your sister in middle school. You remember having to wear a patch when you were younger to help with your vision. You come back to reality with the sound of the crowd anticipating the next action. You can see the ball better in this gym than last 12 w w w.w e s t m i n s t e r. e d u
week’s, thanks to better lighting. You are in better position to counter the attack with a dig of your own, despite having just started playing the libero position due to the team needing you to switch from right side hitter to the one who wears a different colored shirt. Your teammates and coaches trust you and the feelings are mutual. You are Westminster College senior volleyball player Josie Toporcer ’20.
comes with having an eye disorder—it was all going to be worth it. Josie was determined to not let a vision impairment prevent her from playing the sport that she loved.
Josie knew since she was 5 years old that—after all the doctor’s appointments, the eye patch and everything else that
That drive and determination continue to steer Josie as Westminster’s top defender. She is a leader of a team that
“Quitting is not an option in my household—never was,” Josie said of her parents’ and family’s support. “Find a way, because that’s what winners do. I really lucked out in the family department.”
