Somewhere in her mix of extracurricular activities, Erna Lukac finds time to play volleyball.
The Aurora Central senior and native of Croatia is the student body vice president, belongs to the National Honor Society and is Salutatorian of the senior class with a 4.322 GPA.
But as engaged as Lukac is in academics and leadership, she’s also an integral cog for the Trojans on the volleyball court.
Lukac, 17, is in her fourth season as a varsity volleyball player at Aurora Central and is in her second season as a team captain.
What is your favorite high school memory, athletically or otherwise?
My favorite high school memory was during my sophomore year. It was my second year on varsity, and we were going to play Northglenn. We lost the first two games, and everyone thought that we would for sure lose the third, too. Our coach said we needed a miracle to pull it off. We got our miracle that day. We won the third game, fourth game and fifth game. We gave everything we had that day, that’s why that’s my favorite high school memory.
What is the biggest sacrifice you have to make to play your sport?
One of the biggest sacrifices I’ve had to make to play volleyball is putting it before a different program I am part of, Aurora LIGHTS. Aurora LIGHTS is part of a pathway that Aurora Public Schools offers. It is a medicine pathway. I was enrolled in Saturday Academy, which was 10 Saturdays of being at the Anschutz Medical Campus, exploring different health careers and different parts about yourself that you did not know. I had a 3-day volleyball tournament one of the days I had Saturday Academy. I chose to go to my volleyball tournament and was dropped out of the program.
What’s the best piece of advice ever given to you in sports or in life?
Don’t ever cheat yourself to make someone else happy.
Are you a leader? If so, what do you think makes a good leader in yourself or others?
I am a leader. A good leader takes initiative when no one else does. He or she knows where to go when looking for answers. They support their team, whether it’s a sports team, student council or co-worker. A good leader knows when to ask for help. He or she takes responsibility for his or her actions and the actions of the group. A good leader is adaptive. They know how to act and present themselves in different situations. A good leader has a sense of humor.
Do you have any quirks or superstitions when it comes to your sport of life in general?
Unfortunately, I am very superstitious. When it comes to volleyball, if I wear two left socks or the logo on my socks isn’t facing outwards, I think I’m going to have a bad practice or get injured. If one of my (teammates) steps over me, I ask them to step back over me and walk around. When I was little, I was told that if people step over you then you’ll stay the same height forever. It explains why I’ve been steady 5-foot-4 since middle school.
If you listen to music before a game, what gets you most ready for competition? If not, how do you get focused?
I listen to music before my games. I find a spot and isolate myself from my teammates and I just focus on what I have to do to help my team do the best we can do. I usually listen to mellow music.
What’s a sport you’ve always wanted to try, but haven’t and why haven’t you?
Archery. When I was in elementary school, I found a book that said a woman with my name had set records in archery. When I showed it to the campus monitor, she said that it meant that I would be good at archery. I haven’t tried it yet because I’ve been so busy with school, volleyball and work. I’m sure I’ll try it someday in the the future though.
Other than sports, do you have another true passion in life and if so, what is it and why?
Other than sports, I believe my true passion in life is learning. Ever since I was little, I always enjoyed learning new things and broadening my horizons to everything I could—whether that was in school, in my social life, at work, or on the volleyball court.
What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?
In 10 years, I see myself either starting my last year or having just finished my last year of an Orthodontic Specialty Program. I’ve been indecisive about which specialty I want to go into; some days I’m not sure I even want to specialize. They only thing I know is that I want to be a dentist.
— Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555
