Athlete Spotlight: Trinity Gruber

An abundance of youth aspire to play sports at the collegiate level. Many youths set this goal and hope to one day fulfill this dream. Trinity Gruber, a senior at Eastern, has accomplished this and then some. Gruber is a dual athlete, excelling in both volleyball and tennis. Gruber has contributed to three MAC Commonwealth championships as a defensive specialist for Women’s Volleyball. Gruber also plays first singles and first doubles on the Women’s tennis team. Gruber is a soft-spoken, humble, and an incredibly kind individual. Gruber is very relaxed, but her play on both the volleyball and tennis courts is dominant. 

Gruber was inspired to play volleyball because both of her parents played the sport. She jumpstarted her volleyball career in seventh grade in an unexpected way. Though she did not make any of the four school volleyball teams in her seventh-grade year, Gruber did not give up on the sport immediately, as she went and played for an alternative league that season and improved exponentially. When school tryouts were on the horizon the following year, Gruber contemplated if it was even worth trying out again. Gruber decided to give it another try, and she amazingly made her school’s A team. 

Trinity met an impactful coach in her life this year named Gary. He saw that Gruber had astounding potential, and committed to helping her develop further. Gruber’s high school career came with a lot of big games and successful seasons. Every single year of her high school career, her team made states. 

Gruber’s junior season in high school was complicated due to COVID-19. However, Eastern’s head women’s volleyball coach Mark Birtwistle saw her play in person before the pandemic. Gruber was recruited to play at Eastern and came in as a freshman and started. The team was very young that year, and they exceeded expectations making it to the first round of the NCAA finals. They made this incredible run despite having no seniors and only two juniors. This was one of four exceptional seasons Gruber was a part of with the women’s volleyball team. 

Trinity also dominates on the tennis court. Gruber is now atop the ladder of the Eastern Women’s tennis team and does it all while only playing half the year (volleyball causes her to miss all fall practices and matches). 

Gruber’s success in tennis–despite having limited practice–is even more impressive considering she had not played any tennis before her freshman year at Eastern. She decided to join the team with two classmates upon hearing the women’s team was short on players. Gruber essentially taught herself to play tennis her freshman year and did so while playing third singles and second doubles. In her sophomore year, new coach Harrison Bitzberger worked with Gruber to take her game to the next level. She has now played first singles in the last two seasons. 

 “Trinity works extremely hard to excel at everything she does,” Head tennis coach Bitzberger said. “Picking up a new sport is not easy but watching Trinity you would think she has been playing for over 10 years. Not only does she impress other coaches and opponents with her relentless effort in matches but inspires her teammates to work as hard as her and makes our job as coaches easier to do.”

Gruber has certainly contributed greatly to the success of both women’s volleyball and women’s tennis here at Eastern. However, Gruber has contributed even more to the Eastern community as a whole. Gruber is beloved by her teammates and fellow Eastern students. Gruber is universally loved for her warm presence, thoughtfulness, and caring nature. Teammate Anisah Smith said Gruber is, “Literally the best,” and that she is the “nicest person ever.” Smith also spoke of Gruber as a teammate saying she is “committed, hard-working, and reliable.” Gruber has recently earned CSC Academic All-district honors for her work on the court and in the classroom.

Gruber has left a lasting impression of positivity and kindness on this campus. She will be graduating in the spring with a degree in Environmental Science with a minor in Biology. She plans to pursue a master’s career and eventually partake in research and fieldwork. Gruber wants to research conservation along with discovering new things about the world around us. Gruber is passionate about conservation, wildlife, and entomology. Gruber is one of the many amazing individuals that makes this campus great.