SE: Q&A With K-State HOF Inductee Liz Wegner-Busch
Sep 29, 2021 | Volleyball, Sports Extra
Liz Wegner-Busch, the first two-time All-American women's volleyball player in Kansas State history, set the school's all-time record with 1,907 kills, 4.48 kills per set, 27 20-kill matches, 4,900 total attacks, and 2,161 points. The first player to record more than 500 kills in two-consecutive seasons, Wegner also is one of five players to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.
Wegner-Busch helped K-State to one of its most successful four-year stretches in history between 1998-2001. The Wildcats won 80 matches over those four years and participated in four NCAA Tournaments. A three-time All-Big 12 selection, Wegner became the first player in school history to earn a spot on a NCAA All-Tournament team. She was also a two-time Academic All-Big selection.
D. Scott Fritchen of K-State Sports Extra spoke with Wegner-Busch ahead of her return to K-State for her Hall of Fame induction:
DSF: What is Liz Wegner-Busch up to these days?
LWB: We live in Manhattan, and I've been a physician assistant at a family practice since 2008. I love that we are able to raise our family in Manhattan. Noah, my husband, is a biology teacher at the Manhattan High ninth-grade center, and we have four kids — Bailey is 12, Benjamin and Bode are 11, and Bryn is 8. I love being a mother. Every phase is fabulous. We stay busy. It just feels like home being in Manhattan. The kids can get really involved with the university. Obviously, I'm a diehard K-State fan, so I love being around it. I received my degree in kinesiology. I always interested in helping people, perhaps going into physical therapy or medical school, so that was always in my plans. My older sister is handicapped, so I spent a lot of my childhood helping her, and she's had a lot of health issues. Helping people has always been in the plans. I always enjoyed being an athlete and working with athletes, so kinesiology was a great fit for me, and I took all of my pre-med requirements. I love helping people.
DSF: You were the first two-time All-American women's volleyball player in K-State history and set the all-time record with more than 1,900 kills. What do you remember most about your playing days?
LWB: I loved every minute of it. I came from Nebraska and volleyball is a huge sport there. Nebraska wanted me to walk-on because they didn't have a scholarship. When I came to K-State, I just fell in love with everything. Just driving into town, I knew this was where I needed to be. I knew I'd get a great opportunity to become a better player. I loved the coaches, and of course, Suzie Fritz and Jeff Grove are still at K-State. They were the coaches who recruited me. I loved the fact that I could compete. The whole mentality at K-State is we're going to work and grind. We don't have all the fancy, highly-recruited athletes. We have athletes who are going to outwork everyone and fight. That's who I am. That's who we were. I wanted to help build the program and improve it. From the time I began my career to the time I finished my career, the program grew tremendously. It was a great place for me to grow in volleyball and in life.
DSF: The common theme for many of the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame class this year is that many of you weren't necessarily highly recruited, then came to K-State with a chip on your shoulder, and battled and improved, and left as one of the best to ever play here while helping further build the program. That's kind of the K-State way, isn't it?
LWB: Nebraska said I was too short, and I could walk-on. It definitely drove me to want to get better. K-State gave me the opportunity to play against Nebraska in our conference. We had a bunch of girls from the state of Nebraska on our team, and we all had a chip on the shoulder and had something to prove. Then we beat Nebraska for the first time in more than 60 years on their home court. I will always remember that night for the rest of my life. It was amazing and historic. We never gave up. We proved we could play. It was a three-hour battle. Nebraska packed all our fans into a little corner, but they were screaming and fighting for us, and it was unbelievable. We had people celebrating the whole way back. We didn't get back until around 2 a.m. I don't think any of us were able to sleep that night.
At K-State, we had the best crowds, the fans, the students, they all came and supported us. They all came to Ahearn Fieldhouse, which I will always have a big place in my heart for Ahearn, but there was always such a big family mentality at K-State with all of the sports, and everyone was so friendly and so helpful around the community. We had a bunch of Nebraska players, and we wanted to go out there and make a name for K-State. We were trying to grow the sport of volleyball in the state of Kansas and had many summer camps and just tried to help the sport of volleyball to become a big thing in the state. We wanted little girls to grow up playing volleyball.
DSF: What did you learn most about yourself over the course of your K-State career? What are you most proud of?
LWB: I'm a pretty quiet and reserved person naturally, but I was able to become more confident in myself and learned to speak for myself and have a sense of empowerment. That came through a lot of experiences I had in playing volleyball, traveling and speaking on the Catbacker tours. I had an opportunity to put myself out there more, and I probably wouldn't have done that if I hadn't had those sorts of opportunities. It really made me step outside of myself and become more confident. It was a great opportunity for me to pursue the goals in my career and play volleyball. I got to do everything. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.
DSF: When did all the records and your achievements set in?
LWB: With time, age and wisdom, you begin to understand the significance. I think now, I watch these young athletes and see how much the game has evolved, and I sit back and think, "I actually did this." A lot of people now don't know anything about what I accomplished. They don't know that about me. I had some old teammates texting me the other night about this induction into the hall of fame, and I told them that I couldn't have been where I am without any of them. It's a family thing. We did it together. They pushed me, and I hope I pushed them. It's amazing what we were able to accomplish. We texted how this was the best times of our lives. I look upon it with such fondness.
DSF: Are your kids involved with sports?
LWB: Oh yes, I am watching my daughter play volleyball today. I coach her club team and I coach younger girls. I'm trying to help with the education of volleyball. My kids play basketball, my boys wrestle and play football. We stay very involved with sports.
DSF: Do your children know about your outstanding K-State career?
LWB: Well, I don't know. They haven't had the opportunity to see any videos of our games, or any highlights, but I have been pumping the fact that I'll be there with Darren Sproles and Jordy Nelson, and I think they can understand that a little bit more. Then they start putting the pieces together. Obviously, with us being able to go to K-State volleyball games and getting to introduce them to Kendra Wecker and Nicole Ohlde, there's a bunch of athletes from my time that they've been able to meet, and I tell my kids what amazing athletes they are, so I think they are maybe coming around to knowing a little bit about it, but I hope they're enjoying the experience of being around K-State as much as I am.
DSF: When did you find out that you were going to be inducted? When did you get the call and what was your response?
LWB: I was at work in my office with another physician assistant when I received the call. They told me I had been chosen to be in the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame. I was speechless and so surprised and shocked. I definitely shed some tears just because I wasn't expecting it. I immediately called my parents and husband. They were very happy. I cried a lot of tears, happy, surprised, very, very honored, but my physician assistant asked, "Are you OK?" I said, "Yes, I just found out I'm going into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame." She was very happy for me. You talk about life going full circle. We're at Stonecreek Family Physicians, and Dr. Hinkin was there, and he was our team doctor when I played at K-State, and then he hired me. It's a cool full circle. I told him that I was going to be inducted. It was all very humbling. I'm just so honored.
Wegner-Busch helped K-State to one of its most successful four-year stretches in history between 1998-2001. The Wildcats won 80 matches over those four years and participated in four NCAA Tournaments. A three-time All-Big 12 selection, Wegner became the first player in school history to earn a spot on a NCAA All-Tournament team. She was also a two-time Academic All-Big selection.
D. Scott Fritchen of K-State Sports Extra spoke with Wegner-Busch ahead of her return to K-State for her Hall of Fame induction:
DSF: What is Liz Wegner-Busch up to these days?
LWB: We live in Manhattan, and I've been a physician assistant at a family practice since 2008. I love that we are able to raise our family in Manhattan. Noah, my husband, is a biology teacher at the Manhattan High ninth-grade center, and we have four kids — Bailey is 12, Benjamin and Bode are 11, and Bryn is 8. I love being a mother. Every phase is fabulous. We stay busy. It just feels like home being in Manhattan. The kids can get really involved with the university. Obviously, I'm a diehard K-State fan, so I love being around it. I received my degree in kinesiology. I always interested in helping people, perhaps going into physical therapy or medical school, so that was always in my plans. My older sister is handicapped, so I spent a lot of my childhood helping her, and she's had a lot of health issues. Helping people has always been in the plans. I always enjoyed being an athlete and working with athletes, so kinesiology was a great fit for me, and I took all of my pre-med requirements. I love helping people.
DSF: You were the first two-time All-American women's volleyball player in K-State history and set the all-time record with more than 1,900 kills. What do you remember most about your playing days?
LWB: I loved every minute of it. I came from Nebraska and volleyball is a huge sport there. Nebraska wanted me to walk-on because they didn't have a scholarship. When I came to K-State, I just fell in love with everything. Just driving into town, I knew this was where I needed to be. I knew I'd get a great opportunity to become a better player. I loved the coaches, and of course, Suzie Fritz and Jeff Grove are still at K-State. They were the coaches who recruited me. I loved the fact that I could compete. The whole mentality at K-State is we're going to work and grind. We don't have all the fancy, highly-recruited athletes. We have athletes who are going to outwork everyone and fight. That's who I am. That's who we were. I wanted to help build the program and improve it. From the time I began my career to the time I finished my career, the program grew tremendously. It was a great place for me to grow in volleyball and in life.
DSF: The common theme for many of the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame class this year is that many of you weren't necessarily highly recruited, then came to K-State with a chip on your shoulder, and battled and improved, and left as one of the best to ever play here while helping further build the program. That's kind of the K-State way, isn't it?
LWB: Nebraska said I was too short, and I could walk-on. It definitely drove me to want to get better. K-State gave me the opportunity to play against Nebraska in our conference. We had a bunch of girls from the state of Nebraska on our team, and we all had a chip on the shoulder and had something to prove. Then we beat Nebraska for the first time in more than 60 years on their home court. I will always remember that night for the rest of my life. It was amazing and historic. We never gave up. We proved we could play. It was a three-hour battle. Nebraska packed all our fans into a little corner, but they were screaming and fighting for us, and it was unbelievable. We had people celebrating the whole way back. We didn't get back until around 2 a.m. I don't think any of us were able to sleep that night.
At K-State, we had the best crowds, the fans, the students, they all came and supported us. They all came to Ahearn Fieldhouse, which I will always have a big place in my heart for Ahearn, but there was always such a big family mentality at K-State with all of the sports, and everyone was so friendly and so helpful around the community. We had a bunch of Nebraska players, and we wanted to go out there and make a name for K-State. We were trying to grow the sport of volleyball in the state of Kansas and had many summer camps and just tried to help the sport of volleyball to become a big thing in the state. We wanted little girls to grow up playing volleyball.
DSF: What did you learn most about yourself over the course of your K-State career? What are you most proud of?
LWB: I'm a pretty quiet and reserved person naturally, but I was able to become more confident in myself and learned to speak for myself and have a sense of empowerment. That came through a lot of experiences I had in playing volleyball, traveling and speaking on the Catbacker tours. I had an opportunity to put myself out there more, and I probably wouldn't have done that if I hadn't had those sorts of opportunities. It really made me step outside of myself and become more confident. It was a great opportunity for me to pursue the goals in my career and play volleyball. I got to do everything. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.
DSF: When did all the records and your achievements set in?
LWB: With time, age and wisdom, you begin to understand the significance. I think now, I watch these young athletes and see how much the game has evolved, and I sit back and think, "I actually did this." A lot of people now don't know anything about what I accomplished. They don't know that about me. I had some old teammates texting me the other night about this induction into the hall of fame, and I told them that I couldn't have been where I am without any of them. It's a family thing. We did it together. They pushed me, and I hope I pushed them. It's amazing what we were able to accomplish. We texted how this was the best times of our lives. I look upon it with such fondness.
DSF: Are your kids involved with sports?
LWB: Oh yes, I am watching my daughter play volleyball today. I coach her club team and I coach younger girls. I'm trying to help with the education of volleyball. My kids play basketball, my boys wrestle and play football. We stay very involved with sports.
DSF: Do your children know about your outstanding K-State career?
LWB: Well, I don't know. They haven't had the opportunity to see any videos of our games, or any highlights, but I have been pumping the fact that I'll be there with Darren Sproles and Jordy Nelson, and I think they can understand that a little bit more. Then they start putting the pieces together. Obviously, with us being able to go to K-State volleyball games and getting to introduce them to Kendra Wecker and Nicole Ohlde, there's a bunch of athletes from my time that they've been able to meet, and I tell my kids what amazing athletes they are, so I think they are maybe coming around to knowing a little bit about it, but I hope they're enjoying the experience of being around K-State as much as I am.
DSF: When did you find out that you were going to be inducted? When did you get the call and what was your response?
LWB: I was at work in my office with another physician assistant when I received the call. They told me I had been chosen to be in the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame. I was speechless and so surprised and shocked. I definitely shed some tears just because I wasn't expecting it. I immediately called my parents and husband. They were very happy. I cried a lot of tears, happy, surprised, very, very honored, but my physician assistant asked, "Are you OK?" I said, "Yes, I just found out I'm going into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame." She was very happy for me. You talk about life going full circle. We're at Stonecreek Family Physicians, and Dr. Hinkin was there, and he was our team doctor when I played at K-State, and then he hired me. It's a cool full circle. I told him that I was going to be inducted. It was all very humbling. I'm just so honored.
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