Morgan Simkovic, volleyball
Morgan Simkovic is a three-sport star at Jefferson-Morgan and a 4.0 student who plans to become a doctor of physical therapy.
Her rare combination of academic success and athletic prowess is why she was chosen as Jefferson-Morgan’s female fall sports representative in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program. The daughter of Jerry and Carrie Simkovic of Waynesburg has a younger brother, Colby, who is an eighth-grade student who plays baseball.
Simkovic is a middle hitter on JM’s volleyball team, a forward on the basketball team and the shortstop on the softball team.
While she says volleyball is her favorite sport, Simkovic will not play that sport or any other in college.
“I talked to the administration and they told me that it would be next to impossible to play a sport since my major is so intense,” Simkovic said. “I will study to become a doctor of physical therapy, so when I start clinicals and things like that, I wouldn’t even be able to make practices, let alone games. I plan to go to either Waynesburg or Slippery Rock.”
So, when the Lady Rockets were eliminated from the WPIAL Class A volleyball playoffs last week, it marked the end of competitive volleyball for Simkovic, perhaps forever. Knowing her favorite sport was about to end forever made the season “incredibly tough,” she admits.
“Volleyball is my favorite sport,” she said. “I’ve been playing since the seventh grade. It makes you push just a little bit harder every game this season and give it all you have, knowing that this is my last season of volleyball.”
But Simkovic has very fond memories of her volleyball career, which included two trips to the WPIAL playoffs and a second-place finish this season.
“This year, taking second to Frazier, we have nothing to hang our head about,” Simkovic said. “We played really, really well against Frazier, but the outcome didn’t come in our favor. It was still the greatest game we played all year and to say that we were three points shy of winning the section title makes me really proud.”
She is far from done as an athlete. Simkovic will begin basketball practice in the coming weeks and help the Lady Rockets defend their WPIAL softball championship in the spring.
She said she began leaning toward physical therapy when her younger brother became ill.
“Anatomy has always been my favorite subject,” Simkovic said. “I think I got interested in physical therapy when my younger brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor. When he was down at St. Jude, they did a lot of physical therapy with him. It was really cool to see how they interacted with the kids. I might go into peds or home health. I also like the fact that I would keep the sports aspect by studying physical therapy.”
Simkovic will always look back fondly to her days at Jefferson-Morgan. Memories from volleyball, basketball and softball will stay with her likely forever. But she doesn’t expect to have the time or the will to play in college.
“I’ll make a future out of physical therapy, not sports, so … “