Senior Spotlight - Mekenzie Wolfe

Hazleton, Pa. - Senior Mekenzie Wolfe of Grove City, Pa. is at the center of today's senior spotlight! Mekenzie is a four-year member of the women's basketball program and played volleyball during her junior and senior years. She is a two-time recipient of the John Fritz Sportsmanship Award and will graduate this spring with a degree in Corporate Communications and hopes to break into the music business doing promotions.  

Mekenzie has been a staple on the basketball court since the fall of 2016. She helped the women's basketball program to two post-season appearances during her career, including a trip to the Penn State University Athletic Conference Championship game during her freshman season. Wolfe went on to have a great career, playing 92 games in a Nittany Lion uniform. During that time, Mac amassed career totals of 474 points, 532 rebounds, 84 steals 64 blocked shots and 232 entirely incidental personal fouls.

By her junior year, Mekenzie had picked up a new sport and when she wasn't playing basketball, she was working on her skills at the volleyball net. The basketball forward would become a great fit at the middle blocker position and almost immediately made her way into the rotation. She went on to help the Lions to back to back playoff appearances, seeing action in 46 games over two seasons where she totaled 98 kills, 12 services aces and 28 blocks.

"Mac" sat down with us in a virtual capacity earlier in the week to discuss her career.

What impact did athletics have on your experience at Penn State Hazleton?

I really had to focus on my time management and keeping up with my classes so it helped me stay out of trouble. It also gave me a great way to build relationships with new people and helped me develop into my own person.

What advice would you give to a younger teammate or someone interested in playing a sport?

Take advantage of the time you have because you only get so many years to compete and you never know if you'll get another opportunity like the one you have now.

What's your favorite memory while participating in collegiate athletics?

Probably beating Beaver in the basketball semi-finals during my freshman year. We were the underdogs heading into the game, but we played great and made it to the championship game and that win earned us a spot in the USCAA National Tournament. I've really come to appreciate that moment as time went on.

So, how's your quarantine going?

I'm trying to stay productive. My grades should be great since there's not much else going on. I'm not going to pretend to love the outdoors or running but I've taken to those things just to stay active. Other than that I'm keeping up with friends and family over social media and taking walks with other people's dogs!