—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Iowa Central’s Gabby Sullivan celebrates inside Hodges Fieldhouse earlier this season.

Gabby Sullivan isn’t one to embrace the spotlight, even if it continues to shine bright down on her.

The Iowa Central sophomore has helped the Triton volleyball squad to a national ranking and No. 3 seed in the Region XI-B volleyball tournament, which begins on Wednesday inside Hodges Fieldhouse against Southeastern.

Behind Sullivan, the 16th-ranked Tritons (28-9 overall) will try to secure a berth in the NJCAA Div. II National Tournament later this year by winning regionals.

A quick glance at the NJCAA leaderboard shows Sullivan ranking second in the country with 560 kills. She averages over four kills per set, a number that ranks sixth in the nation, along with 1,574 attacks — which places her first.

But after arriving on the Iowa Central campus last year, Sullivan experienced a serious health scare.

“At a preseason scrimmage, I passed out on the bus from dehydration,” she said. “For weeks after that, I was unable to compete at full-speed without getting overly tired. I was put on a heart monitor that I was required to wear all day for 30 days. Those 30 days took up a bulk of our season.

“I had to play with cords wrapped around my shoulder and a cell phone strapped to my back. But learning to play with those adversities definitely helped me become the player I am now.”

Sullivan has been given the green light to continue playing, as she finished out her freshman season with over 200 kills in 34 matches. As one of five sophomores returning for ICCC head coach Sara Horn, Sullivan took on more of a leadership role with her classmates as they helped usher in a large group of newcomers.

“I really didn’t know what to expect coming into this year,” Sullivan said. “But it is to my pleasure that I can say we have had a very successful season so far. We are all proud of the record we had this year. We have a great group of freshmen that all came in willing to work hard and looking for a spot.

“As a whole, they are just an athletic group that really respected us (sophomores) and the goals that we wanted to achieve this season. They all have done an amazing job of adapting to the collegiate level of play.”

Sullivan and the other sophomores – Lexi Green, Emily Nelson, Michele O’Haver and Liza Hatcher – worked together in the spring to prepare for this fall. With such a small group, the Nebraska native says they were each able to gain “specific one-on-one coaching that we really needed.”

“We also lifted and conditioned multiple times a week, which has really helped us perform at our best this year,” she added.

Along with her name sitting near the top of the national charts in a handful of categories, Sullivan also has 87 total blocks and has scored 634 points this year.

“Being ranked among the nation’s best in stats is super exciting and it is so crazy to see my name on top of those lists,” she said. “I can’t take all the credit for my success, though. Coach Horn has changed me as a player and assistant coach Alyssa Guarnaccia has pushed me every day of the season to get the most out of not only myself but everyone on the team.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere if it weren’t for my teammates. I have so many good things to say about them. We are really good about standing together as a team through wins and losses, and I think that plays a huge role in why we’ve been so successful.

“We are all working towards one goal and I don’t think we’ve taken our eye off that, which is making nationals. Something about this team is different from any other team I’ve been a part of; we just click and that really goes to show out on the court.”

While Sullivan doesn’t have any plans for where she will be next fall, she knows two things are for certain: winding up at Iowa Central was the right decision and she’ll be on a volleyball court somewhere.

“I visited Iowa Central few times before I finally made the decision to commit,” she said. “It was Coach Horn and the volleyball team that brought me to ICCC, but it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the campus and all the people here. I can’t imagine myself at any other school and I do believe that Iowa Central was where I am supposed to be. I love it here and am going to be sad to leave here in the spring.”

Sullivan plans on continuing her education in the athletic training field.

GET TO KNOW GABBY SULLIVAN

Nickname: Gab

Sport I would be playing if not volleyball: Basketball

Three people I would like to have dinner with: Melissa McCarthy, Cardi B and Zac Efron

Sports role model: Jordan Larson

Favorite sports team: Nebraska Cornhuskers

Better feeling, recording a block, kill or dig: block