Blue Devil Alumni Spotlight: Erin (Heger) Kerber

Women's Volleyball | 9/30/2014 9:27:00 AM

Name – Erin (Heger) Kerber
UW-Stout graduation year – 2005
Major – Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance
Sport(s) – Volleyball
Years Played – 2002-2004 - I transferred from the College of Saint Benedict to Stout and played my remaining three seasons as a Blue Devil
Hometown (High School) – Chaska, MN (Chaska)
Currently Reside – Chaska, MN

Why did you choose to be a collegiate student-athlete at UW-Stout? I chose Stout based on the strong Business program and the help that was available by many of the professors outside of class hours.  I also liked the competitiveness of the WIAC and the coaching staff.

What did you like most about competing in collegiate athletics? The level of play and competition is at a whole new level in college.  In high school, you are playing with the same teammates for 10 years, so it's exciting to work with new athletes.  I also enjoyed the support, socialization and the feeling of balance by choosing to continue sports through college.

What is the greatest lesson you learned from being a collegiate student-athlete? Being a student athlete teaches you how to manage your time efficiently and succeed under pressure, which will help the transition into the professional world. It's an effective way to learn discipline, responsibility and leadership.  It also gives you a strong sense of teamwork which is important for everyday life.

Who was the most influential person in your athletic career? My Mom. She rarely missed a game and she was the first person I called for advice.

What is your most memorable or favorite sports moment at UW-Stout? Sweeping La Crosse in three straight games for the WIAC tournament championship!

How did your teammates describe you as a person and a student-athlete? I laugh as I write this because it's not hard for my teammates to describe me in one word: "Vocal".  I was definitely a vocal leader on the court and extremely competitive, as we all were.

Are you in contact with any former Blue Devil student-athletes?  With social media, it's hard not to be!  Yes, I stay in touch with a lot of my teammates but due to our locations it's mainly via Facebook and phone calls.

Outside of athletics, what other activities were you involved in at UW-Stout? I decided to load up on my classes during my time in college which allowed me to have only two classes during my last semester, so I didn't have a lot of extra free-time for other activities.

Give us a brief synopsis of your life since graduating from UW-Stout, include job and family? After graduating, I was hired as a financial analyst with Lockheed Martin.  After a few years in the analytical role, I switched gears and received my series 7 license and now work at an investment firm.  I've been married for five years and I have a 2 ½ year-old son and a 10-month-old daughter.

There were a lot of great hitters during your time on the team, what was it like setting to all of them? To have a go-to-hitter in every rotation made my job a lot easier.  I actually have to give my passers the credit for making my job easy, and to my hitters for making me look better!

What did it mean to you and the team winning the conference tournament in 2004? Our team was extremely competitive and losing wasn't an option in our minds.  Our goal from the beginning of the season was to win the conference tournament and move onto the NCAA tourney. In 2004, a lot of the WIAC teams were nationally ranked throughout the entire season, so winning the conference tournament was extremely gratifying.

Did the team have strong personal relationships with one another, and did that correlate to the team's success? Absolutely. I lived with three other teammates for three years and I wouldn't have changed it.  When we weren't on the court or in the weight room, we were still hanging out with each other.  I believe our team was able to make that work because we were able to put our issues aside when we stepped foot on the court. We also had a unique team because 4 out of the 6 starters were transfers in from other colleges.