A Montgomery County Community College Mustangs Women’s Volleyball player has been named a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III third team All-American.

Exercise Science and Wellness major Veronika Paciorek, 20, of Collegeville, an outside hitter and middle blocker now in her second year at MCCC, was selected by the NJCAA DIII Volleyball Committee following the 2023-24 season.

The honor came as a big surprise.

“I’m very proud,” she said. “It’s nice to know the hard work has paid off.”

There was a time in Paciorek’s life when volleyball was the last thing on her mind. During her junior year at Perkiomen Valley High School, she was injured in a car accident, which prevented her from making her school’s team. Until that point, she had been playing the sport since she was 11 years old after she left gymnastics.

“At 11, I started to get too tall for the kid bars,” she said. She joined her church’s Catholic Youth Organization volleyball team and discovered a passion for the sport.

Following her accident, Paciorek spent the next year focused on rehabilitating her injury. Her hard work paid off and she came back to make the team the next season.

“I’ve been able to grow and improve. I didn’t expect myself to gain this much skill,” she said. “It’s interesting to look back and see how much I’ve grown.”

After high school, she thought about moving on from the sport. She enrolled at a four-year institution in the fall of 2022, but the experience went differently than she expected. She transferred to MCCC in the spring of 2023 to get a fresh start at a school much closer to home. Little did she know she’d soon be back on the court, this time playing for the Mustangs.

One of her first classes at the College was Introduction to Exercise Science, Wellness, and Sports Studies with Dr. Anne Livezey. She liked the class’s energy and how interested she was in the subject matter.

“I was enjoying it,” she said. “I was having fun.”

As a MCCC student, Paciorek appreciated the ability to explore all of her passions.

“I enjoyed the work load I had each semester, and the classes I took,” she said. “For example, I was able to take plenty of science classes like anatomy and physiology, kinesiology, exercise physiology, and more. But I was still able to take a class for the crafty side of me, ceramics 1 and 2.”

Her high school friend and former teammate at Perkiomen Valley, Jessica Lofton, texted Paciorek saying her volleyball head coach, Miljana Vukoslavovic, at MCCC would like to see her play.

“She said, ‘We need players for the team.’ I thought, I don’t want to play volleyball anymore,” said Paciorek. “She said, ‘Come in for a practice or two,’ which turned into two years of volleyball. It’s nice to feel needed towards the team. I got to know the girls easily. The team flowed.”

Working as a student-athlete took up the majority of her time on campus, although she still found time to participate in a 5K fundraiser hosted by her ESW classmates.

She also made time for her crafty hobbies, including crocheting and ceramics. For Christmas, she gave out beanies and blankets to friends and family.

When it comes to volleyball, Paciorek said the best players are the ones who are “coachable.”

“They will fix mistakes seen from sideline. They’re team oriented,” she said. “They flow with team and make sure everyone is on the same page.”

Paciorek said the 2023-24 season was likely her last year playing the sport at the collegiate level, though she’s open to playing for a club or intramural team. Following completion of her associate degree in Exercise Science and Wellness at Montco in December 2024, she transferred to West Chester University in 2025 to study exercise science and wellness with a pre-concentration in physical therapy. Her hard work at MCCC earned her a spot on the Dean’s Commendation List and she graduated with honors.

Looking back on her All-American career with the Mustangs, Paciorek said she’s leaving with proud memories, especially those of her teammates.

“It didn’t feel like a team but more like sisterhood or family,” she said. “You could go to them for anything.”