Trepidation.

More than one volleyball player had that inferior feeling while playing across the net from Panther Valley’s Morgan Orsulak the past four years.

That’s because on the court, Orsulak has shown she can do it all: Attack, block, serve, set, pass. And she performs mercilessly with unyielding determination.

It’s her proficient aptitude in the sport that has made the all-league and all-district performer the Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Volleyball Player of the Year for the second year.

Orsulak, a high honors student in her senior year, has the school record for volleyball assists — 1,417. She also finished her career with 927 kills, 108 blocks, 258 aces and 500 digs.

It’s her prowess at the net that especially stands out. Whether she registers a spike with the velocity of a comet, or lightly tapping the ball to an unguarded opening in the opponent defense, Orsulak is an incredible offensive player— although her defense is just as invincible.

A letter winner in three sports the past three years — volleyball, basketball and track — she clarifies that volleyball is her favorite sport. She will continue playing the sport next year when she attends Alvernia University.

How did she become such a phenom?

“Watching older girls and watching how they played definitely influenced me a lot,” she said, referring to teammates she played with while an underclassman. “Just seeing how they play the sport and how hard they work.”

Among those influences she said were her cousins, the Dacey sister — Christine, Olivia and Emma — and Riley McArdle, “and all those girls that were above me that I played with.”

“Learning from them definitely made me the player that I am, but along with all my coaches that I had pushing me to be the best,” she said.

Her statistics display her personal achievements, but she’s also very unselfish. Such teamwork is a reason every varsity team on which she’s played has made the postseason, including winning the Schuylkill League championship twice.

McArdle, a 2024 PV grad who also was a TN/LVHN Player of the Year, is presently playing volleyball at King’s College.

“She was a big influence,” Orsulak said. “We still have contact.”

Orsulak said she will be playing against McArdle the next two years, which is “something I’m looking forward to.”

“I want to win, I want to do everything I can to help my team,” added Orsulak. “We’re all very excited, but after gaining a big point, (I try to) keep myself calm.

“Just playing my volleyball, playing how I know how to play and being a leader is something that is very important to me.”

Orsulak is the daughter of John and Kristel Orsulak. She has a brother, Cody — a 2023 graduate of PV who played baseball and basketball. He is a catcher on the varsity baseball team of Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire.

“He definitely played a big part of my athletic career,” she said of Cody.

The road to success never came easy, especially for Morgan who had some very serious obstacles to overcome.

She was only six days old when she had to have open heart surgery at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia “because my blood was going the opposite way from my heart,” she said.

When she decided to play volleyball in the fifth grade, she faced restriction.

“They said I’m as healthy as I can be now,” she said, although she must visit CHOP annually for check-ups.

“Hearing about everything I went through as a baby gave me the mindset that if I went through that, I can get through anything,” she said.

As a show of her gratitude toward the medical care given at CHOP, Orsulak collects aluminum can tabs which raises funds for the Ronald McDonald House. Over the years, she has taken over a million of the tabs to the hospital.

“A lot of people save them for me,” she said. “Sometimes when I come home, there will be bags (filled with tabs) on my doorstep.”

Another setback came shortly after she began playing volleyball. Covid 19 occurred, forcing her to miss a season of the sport.

“I love giving my teammates the ball,” she said. “I love setting at center, I love giving all different types of setters a chance to hit the ball like they can.

“I give all my credit to my defense. I couldn’t have been as good of a setter or as good of a hitter without them, and I think that just helped us along the way throughout the four years I’ve been here.”

In basketball, Orsulak is a starting forward. On the track team, she does high jump, long jump and triple jump.

In high school, she’s a member of the National Honor Society, is Senior Class Vice President, is Student Council President, and serves on the staff of the high school yearbook and newspaper.

She loves spending as much time as she can with family members.

At Arcadia, she plans to major in secondary education. She said she always wanted to be a teacher like her mother.

“I love working with kids,” she said. “Of course, I’m super excited about playing volleyball in college.”