Minium: ODU Setter Wiktoria Zagumny's Father is From Polish Volleyball Royalty

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK, Va. – Wiktoria Zagumny was just 12 years old, and had only begun to learn the game of volleyball, when she was called on to serve in front of a sellout crowd of 12,000 and millions of people in Poland watching on live TV.

The occasion was an exhibition game in the southern Polish city of Katowice between Polish and international all-star teams. The game was staged to bade farewell to Pawel Zagumny, who is perhaps the most famous volleyball player ever in Poland.

Pawel is Wiktoria’s father and he was a four-time Olympian and a three-time world champion who in 2008 was named the best setter in the Olympic games.

The crowd was on its feet, applauding and cheering, in the final minutes of the match as Wiktoria, wearing No. 5, the same number as her father, stepped off the bench. Her father smiled broadly as he hugged his daughter.

Then she stepped on the court and the crowd grew silent as she prepared to serve.

“I was so nervous,” Wiktoria said. “I was still being trained and barely knew how to serve the ball.”

But she aced it, drilling the ball sharply across the net.

Nine years later, Old Dominion is hoping Wiktoria will similarly deliver a ton of aces for the Monarchs.

Wiktoria, a 6-foot junior, will start at setter for the Monarchs when they open their season Friday against Fairfield (12:30 p.m.) and West Virginia (7 p.m.)  in the Quest For the Crown tournament at the ODU Volleyball Center.

The Monarchs host Towson at 4 p.m. Saturday in the final match of the tournament.

ODU lost a ton of players from last season, to both graduation and transfers, and Head Coach Fred Chao needed to recruit some good ones to replace them. Wiktoria was clearly a great get from the transfer portal.

She transferred to ODU after two seasons at Chicago State, where she helped lead the Cougars to their first conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth ever. She was named the first-team setter on the All-Northeastern Conference squad.

She led the NEC with 965 assists and also had 76 kills, 25 services aces, 224 digs and 50 blocks. She had 40 or more assists eight times, including a season-high 52 assists in the first round of the NEC Tournament.

Volleyball is in her DNA and not just from her father. Her mother, Oliwia, was a professional volleyball player who retired early once she got married. Both of her grandparents on her father’s side also played volleyball.

And they all played setter.

So does her younger brother, who is a 14-year-old high school player in Warsaw.

The setter is generally considered the equivelent of a football quarterback of volleyball. Setters are expected to be the second player to touch the ball after a dig or pass and set up her teammates to score a point. Setters are often team leaders, communicating with their teammates about strategy and often controlling the tempo of the match.

“It’s a very key position for every team,” Chao said.

She transferred to ODU in the spring and has been gradually growing into her role, Chao said.

“At first, she was trying to navigate her way through a new team and a new school,” Chao said. “But she’s grown in her time here. She’s more confident and she’s shown leadership qualities.

“She’s got a great sense of humor and that’s important in a leader. And she’s a really good volleyball player.”

Wictoria grew up all over Poland, and even spent some time in Greece, while her father played out his professional career. When he retired in 2016, the family settled in Warsaw, the Polish capital, and her volleyball career began to blossom.

She played three years for the Polish U-18 and U-16 teams while in high school.

“In my last year of high school, I didn’t know if I was good enough to play professionally,” she said. “So, I decided to come to America. Here, I knew I would get a college degree and find out if I was good enough to play professionally.”

She chose Chicago State in part because of the city’s large ethnic Polish community, and in her two years there, she was feted by the Polish community. Some Polish community leaders made contact with her through her father.

She made the decision to transfer because she felt like she needed to play at a higher level in order to make it to the pros.

Chicago State is much smaller than ODU and doesn’t have the same level of facilities.

ODU spent more than $3 million five years ago to refurbish the gym in the Jim Jarrett Administration Building to turn it into one of the nicest volleyball centers outside of the Power 4.

The gym seats more than 900 for volleyball, many with chairback seats, and the team’s locker room, team room, coaches’ offices, conditioning room and training room are just steps apart.

The Monarchs also tradtionally play a challenging schedule, including this season, when the Monarchs take on North Carolina State, West Virginia, Wake Forest and Maryland.  

“I have a lot of friends at Chicago State and enjoyed my time there,” she said. “But I feel like the whole level of getting us prepared for the season is way different here.

“The practices are more intense. The facilities here and the campus are just great.”

And although ODU’s roster is smaller than usual, with just 13 players, that’s more than the nine on Chicago State’s roster.

“In practice, we could never play a simulated game,” she said. “Here, we work so hard in practice and we have such great coaches.

"I love it here.”

Because she was in Poland last December, she was recruited virtually, with no on-campus visits.

Her agent was Jesica Umansky, who played for Chao at George Mason and while Wiktoria said Umansky did not push ODU, she also spoke highly of Chao.

“Jesica told me, ‘Listen, I’m not going to tell you to go there, because you have to be happy in your choice,” she said. “It’s your decision.

“But this coach at Old Dominion, he’s amazing.’

“ODU was the first of about 25 schools to reach out to me,” Wiktoria added.” At first, I wasn’t considering them. But then after all the conversations, I realized she was right. Coach Chao was a very special coach. I love all the coaches here.”

 Her famous father never pushed her to play volleyball. He offered to help her but said if she didn’t want to play, it was her choice.

“I’ve had teammates who have parents who were like mad at them if they lost or played bad,” she said. “But my dad was always like, ‘It’s your game. You know what to do.’

“He told me, ‘If you want to play volleyball, that’s great. But if you don’t, that’s also great. You don’t have to.’

“I think that freedom to do what I wanted has really helped me grow.”

She said her parents will watch ODU’s games this weekend on streaming television even though Warsaw time is six hours ahead of Norfolk.

“I’m so looking forward to” the opening weekend, she said. “I can’t wait to play.

“I feel like we have great potential. The talent here is great and we’re really working hard.

“I’m sure I’ll be nervous for our first game.”

But as she showed at the tender age of 12, she won’t let a few nerves rattle her.

Minium is ODU’s senior executive writer. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram