Your future, our focus
Former Panther Looks To Overcome Learning Curve At NWC
Breanna Donarski has levels of success in her three years starting for the Powell varsity volleyball team and is primed for more, as she recently signed on the dotted line to join the Northwest College Trapper program.
The Lady Panthers won the 3A state championship in Donarski’s first year starting on varsity as a sophomore and would reach the state tournament each of her next two years.
Powell lost in the semifinals to eventual state champion Douglas in 2014 and lost a four-set match to Worland in the quarterfinals in 2015, as the Warriors would go on to claim the state crown.
An all-around athlete who is a solid basketball player as well, Donarski began her time on the volleyball court in third-grade, following in the steps of her older sister, Savannah.
Starting so young in volleyball, Donarski and her teammates were essentially thrown into the fire quickly as it was an AAU club team that had them traveling quite a bit for some heady competition with other club teams.
“We traveled to Billings and all over the state on the weekends,” Donarski said. “We were also playing against really good teams.”
Which perhaps is what laid the groundwork for the success of Powell’s high school program.
Donarski also took advantage of the volleyball camps offered by Northwest along the way, helping to better her game and get to know the Trapper program and head coach Shaun Pohlman, who was named as the NJCAA West Region Coach of the Year for guiding his squad to a fourth-place finish in the national tournament.
“We have many opportunities to participate in events hosted or run by Trapper volleyball, and Bree has spent a lot of time in our gym and with our team,” Pohlman said. “She works hard, is selfless, emotionally intelligent and, most of all, is trustworthy and honorable in her word.”
And while he has a strong high school program right in his backyard, Pohlman recruits around the country, as well as internationally, having a roster that includes student-athletes from California, Nevada and New Mexico, as well as three from Serbia.
But for her ability, determination and having seen her grow as a player from up close, Pohlman knew he had a keeper in Donarski.
“We have worked together personally for the past four years,” he added. “It didn’t take long to figure out whether or not she fits our mold.”
Donarski knows what she’s stepping into and what it will take for her to be able to contribute at the collegiate level.
“They have made it to Nationals the last three years, I believe,” she said. “I’ve been a setter and an outside hitter in high school, but coach has said I’ll probably be a Libero on the back line, so I know it will be an adjustment.”
An adjustment that Pohlman is confident she can make.
“There will be a learning curve in processing the information and people can lose confidence,” he said “But if Bree stays true to who she is and keeps faith in the process, I have no doubt her experience will be rewarding.”
Donarski will look to study Speech Pathology, and will be taking on the full college experience.
“Even though I live here, I’m going to live in the dorms and really be a part of it,” she said. “Having the chance to continue to play, which has been a goal since freshman year, and being able to get to know teammates from all over the world is something I’m really looking forward to.
“I had talked to and visited Dickinson State in North Dakota and I was willing to go to a school out of state,”
Donarski added. “But knowing coach Pohlman so well and with such a good program, this was the best choice for me.”