Mia Izzo
Sport: Volleyball
School: Park Ridge
Class: Senior. Age: 17
Accomplishment: Izzo helped the Owls vault into first place in the NJIC Patriot with a 4-0 week. She totaled 64 kills (7.1 per set) and 21 blocks (2.3 per set), turning in a 21-kill, 8-block performance against division rival New Milford.
NorthJersey.com
Mia Izzo admits she was “consumed” by volleyball when she first took up the sport.
Something was, in fact, eating at the Park Ridge senior’s thoughts during the last of four matches she played last week.
“During our Cresskill game [on Friday]… I’d been sick for a little bit, and I wasn’t feeling my best,” Izzo recalled earlier this week. “But our assistant coach, Martina [McGee], came up to me and said that after the first set, I was already at 10 kills, and that hasn’t happened to me before.
“So, I was really excited, and that just kind of amped up my energy for the second set.”
The middle blocker finished the Owls’ two-set victory with 18 kills, and that wasn’t even her best outing of the week.
A day earlier, in a battle for first place atop the NJIC Patriot division, she had what coach Bill Allen called “a performance for the ages” in a 2-1 win at New Milford: 21 kills, 10 digs, 8 blocks, 3 service aces and even an assist (typically rare for a non-setter).
A sport that seems to come naturally to Izzo came along later in her athletic career.
“I started playing volleyball for a local rec team when I was in fifth grade,” Izzo said. “I wasn’t thrilled about starting another sport, because I had been a multi-sport athlete for a very long time, and I didn’t really want to put another one on my plate.”
The veteran of youth basketball, soccer, lacrosse and softball just went along with it when her parents signed her up. And then…
“Volleyball tuned out all my other thoughts, and I felt so consumed by it when I was playing,” she said. “From then on, I’ve just never stopped. I started playing club, and it’s just been something that’s always just brought so much emotion into my life.”
Her presence at the net has provided an emotional boost for Park Ridge, which opened the year 7-2 and won its first five divisional matches.
“Last time I looked, earlier this week, Mia was tops in our conference for kills and top-two in New Jersey,” Allen said.
For the Izzo family as a whole, basketball seems to be the sport of choice. Mia’s older brother Tim played for the Owls before graduating in 2022, and her father lettered in both hoops and football.
Izzo competes for the girls track team in the spring, but that is a sidelight. Her focus remains on the court, where she has become the second Park Ridge volleyball player to be named The Record Athlete of the Week (Ashley Ziltz was the first in 2018).
“My dad also went to Park Ridge High School, and when he found out I won, he was very excited,” Izzo said. “But he did not win it himself.”
Volleyball remains a possibility for college, and the search is ongoing. For the time being, Izzo will enjoy the hitting, blocking and team pasta parties (any style of pasta will do).
“I just like it plain with butter and cheese,” she said. “My family is Italian, and they definitely eat all those fancy pastas and stuff at family gatherings. But I’m kind of a picky eater, I like it simple.”
So what if Izzo doesn’t know orzo? Her true culinary interests lie elsewhere.
“I’ve been taking French since seventh grade, and I really love it,” she said. “My dream is to go to Paris. I’m hoping I can study abroad at some point in college. I also want to try the food there.”
As she has learned from volleyball, the best experiences are all-consuming.
