National soccer coaches association recognizes Highland's Vanessa Zufall

Vanessa Zufall is no stranger to recognition, and it is not limited to her talents on the soccer field. The 2026 Highland graduate was named a 2025-26 High School Scholar All-American by the United Soccer Coaches. Zufall was one of 63 girls nationwide to earn the distinction, which is based on cumulative achievement in the classroom as well as on the field. Zufall finished high school with a 4.94 grade-point average and was one of 10 girls from Ohio to receive the honor. "I was definitely looking forward to that coming out because I like my academics have always been really important to me," Zufall said. "It's an award that I was really looking forward to hopefully getting, and it meant a lot that I was able to achieve that goal." It is the second time Zufall has been honored by the United Soccer Coaches, as she was named an All-American in December following a senior season that saw her score 14 goals and dish out a Medina county-high 25 assists. The Hornets repeated as Suburban League American Conference champions and won their third consecutive district title. Vanessa's father, Bill Zufall, who coached her in her four years at Highland, has stressed the importance of the student part of student-athlete, as his mother was a middle school teacher for 30 years and his father's side of the family also had a background in education. "I'm proud. It's almost where you can't put words into it," said Bill Zufall, who retired as Highland's coach in November. "I really have always taken pride in the true definition of student athlete, where student comes before athlete." The thing that impressed the father the most was Vanessa's ability to avoid the pitfalls that plague a lot of young people these days. "In today's society, when you have social media, friends, family, schoolwork, other aspects that are pointing several different ways, it's so hard to make that list," Bill Zufall said. "You find someone that puts it all together and has the knowing and understanding, that to me is the true definition of being an elite student athlete, and that's why that list is so short." Vanessa believes that while there are distractions, it comes down to having discipline when trying to get the things you want in life. "I think one of the main things is time management," she said. "You really just have to set out what you think you're going to do throughout the day to get all of your stuff done. I know for me, I wanted a 4.0 GPA, especially when I wanted to start applying for colleges, so really just like setting those goals and making it to where I could achieve them. I knew what I needed to do, so it was really just being able to accomplish that." Highland administrators were also extremely happy for Zufall. "We're extremely proud of her. She's a great kid, and she works extremely hard in and out of the classroom," athletic director Jon Bailey said. "It's great to see kids receive the accolades they deserve for their hard work, and Highland takes a lot of pride in their academics. Like we do very well, right, in the athletic world and on the athletic side, it's a focal point, but the whole child is really our superintendent's vision — along with the rest of us — and we follow suit. We want kids to excel in the classroom and on the athletic field." Zufall, the 2024 Gazette MVP and three-time All-Gazette honoree, will be playing for Radford University and has been on campus since July 23 practicing with the team. She joins a program that went 10-5-1 overall and 7-1 in the Big South Conference, earning the top seed in the conference tournament before falling to No. 4 High Point 2-1 in the semifinals. She has set personal goals as a freshman, but there are team goals as well. "I just really want to focus on growing as a player and a person because I know, especially for Division I, it's a big adjustment," Zufall said. "I want to see some field time, but really everyone on our team's just been talking about getting the ring this year, so that's definitely one of the main goals." When classes begin Aug. 24, Zufall will begin her pursuit of a double major in finance and business management, walking in her father's footsteps. Bill is the founder of Zufall Financial Services and a Raymond James financial advisor. Vanessa spent a good portion of the past year learning the ropes of the business from her father. "I actually have been interning at my dad's office since the fall," Vanessa said. "Then this summer, I worked Monday through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 2 o'clock in the afternoon, so I have been learning a lot there. I think it's definitely something that I want to do with my future." Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com.