Susan Hilavacek
Susan A. Hlavaek ` 80 1991 Basketball, Volleyball
She was the first. The first to hear the plaudits of the crowd, the acclaim of the press, the approval from her peers as the best to represent Cleveland State University in women's athletics.
And while a mere handful had gone before her to set the standards, the long parade of those who followed have done little to dim her lustre.
Tall, willowy and graceful, she arrived at Cleveland State in the Fall of 1974 from Cleveland's James Ford Rhodes High School, already bearing with her a string of athletic honors.
A member of the city championship girls basketball team in both her junior and senior years, captain of the basketball and volleyball teams as a senior, she had been named the school's outstanding female athlete at the end of her senior year.
She didn't miss a beat in college. She stepped into a starting role in her freshman season with the Viking basketball team in 1974-75, and never relinquished the job until completing her four years of eligibility with the 1978-79 season.
In the four seasons she competed, the Vikings enjoyed records of 10-3, 13-4, 8-7 and 11-9.
At the end of each of those seasons she was named the winner of the CSU Athletic Alumni Association Award as the team's `Most Outstanding Player' after leading the club in scoring and rebounding.
In 1978 she was named to the Ohio Large College All-Tournament First team although the Vikings were eliminated in the first round. The reason? A 32-point 28-rebound effort against Miami.
At the end of each of her last three seasons - in 1975-1976, 1977-78 and 1978-79 - she was named CSU's Female Athlete-of-the-Year.
When the book closed on her collegiate basketball career, the last page showed her as the first 1,000-point scorer in women's basketball history at Cleveland State and the holder of CSU's single game, season and career records for most points, most rebounds, most field goals and most free throws made.
She accomplished all this while annually getting off to a late start because of her commitments to volleyball and its overlapping season.
She also earned four letters in the latter sport and was a key member of the 1977 team which finished fourth in the Ohio state college tournament and then the 1978 team which won the Ohio title.
The four teams on which she played rolled to records of 25-6, 18-9, 28-11 and 37-11.
After completing her athletic career at CSU she signed a professional basketball contract with the Philadelphia Fox in the Women's Professional Basketball League, played one season, then returned to complete work for her degree.
She subsequently became a physical education teacher at Mayfield High School where she served as head varsity volleyball coach from 1981 through 1989 and head basketball coach from 1981 through 1984. She also served as assistant women's basketball coach at John Carroll University in 1984-85.
During that time she was twice named the Greater Cleveland Conference Volleyball Coach of the Year (1982 and 1985).
In 1990 she accepted a teaching and coaching position at Laurel School, where she was the varsity volleyball coach at the time of her induction into the Athletic Hall of Fame.
