Successful, level-headed, and committed – three words sophomore outside hitter Erica Gerth uses to describe herself.

All three play a vital role in her life both on the court and in the classroom and have also helped her earn Top Cat of the week.

Success has been no stranger to Gerth since she started playing volleyball in the sixth grade.Throughout her years playing club and high school volleyball at El Paso, a small town 20 miles north of Bloomington-Normal, she has accumulated a long list of achievements and awards.

A two-time first team all-area pick and a special and honorable mention all-stater, Gerth helped win two straight conference titles and a regional title in 2000 at El Paso to go along with three consecutive state titles for her club team.

The success did not stop in her first year at Eastern. Coming on to a team with high expectations, Gerth had no problem stepping up early by earning a starting role on a senior filled roster.

The Panthers eventually marched all the way to the NCAA tournament and Gerth added more awards to her trophy case as she was named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team.

Gerth also excels in the classroom. She brings the highest GPA to the team with a 4.0, but doesn’t always receive many compliments for it from her teammates.

“(My teammates) gave me the nickname the smartest dumb person,” Gerth said. “Sometimes I don’t think before I talk and I don’t always have the best common sense.”

So where does all this success come from?

Eastern head coach Brenda Winkeler sees Gerth’s ability to learn quickly and work hard the main reason behind her successful background.

“(Gerth) is a great player with a great work ethic,” Winkeler said. “She doesn’t get frustrated easily which is why she learns quickly both in the classroom and on the court.”

Gerth also credits her older sister Carrie for getting her interested in volleyball.

“My whole time growing I watched my sister play volleyball,” Gerth said. “She was a great role model for me.”

Gerth almost followed her sister to Wichita State so she could play on the same team with her for her senior season, but chose to come to Eastern so she could be closer to home.

“I wanted to stay in state,” Gerth said. “Eastern had shown some interest and they were having some success while they were recruiting me.”

This season Gerth will have to take on a new role as a veteran leader after the loss of six seniors from the previous year. She has already led by example in the Pepsi/Super 8 Invitational last weekend by being named to the All-Tournament team with a team best 4.21 digs per game.

She had career match highs in both kills and digs with 25 each against DePaul. These numbers also earned her OVC Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career.

All of these honors and awards could easily make someone more cocky and confident, but Winkeler thinks that is the opposite with Gerth.

“She plays with a consistency of emotion and attitude,” Winkeler said. “Although she excels, she isn’t the type to have that ego.”

With two more seasons still ahead Gerth sees herself only getting better because of her commitment to the sport. She looks forward to making a few more trips back to the NCAA tournament.

“You can do almost anything you want when you give one hundred percent,” Gerth said. “We just want to work toward getting back and to remember what happened last year.”