Illinois Wesleyan senior Erin Wachtel was an honorable mention selection for the 2012 all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin squads. Heading into her final season she ranks No. 8 in IWU career records with 2,363 assists, is No. 26 all-time with 86 service aces and No. 30 in IWU records with 785 digs.
She was twice named "Setter/Defensive Player of the Week" in the CCIW in 2012 and was named to two all-tournament teams (Carthage, IWU Barker I).
She has led IWU in assists as a sophomore and junior.
Majoring in business/economics at Illinois Wesleyan, she is the daughter of Jayne and Lyle Wachtel.
Why you chose Illinois Wesleyan: Just felt like the right fit—beautiful campus, beautiful people, beautiful opportunities.
IWU class you’re most qualified to teach: Creative Writing. I have quite the imagination.
The hardest challenge about being a Division III student-athlete is: Balancing the fame, fortune, and good grades.
Worst grade in a class you ever got – what and when? I really don’t know. My grades are pretty consistent.
I’m deathly afraid of ... : Christmas being cancelled
Worst habit: Chewing gum when talking to people
Most expensive traffic ticket: Parking ticket in front of my own apartment. How bogus, right?
Language I’d like to learn: My next language will be Portuguese. I’m promising myself to go back to Europe and visit Portugal. Honestly, if I could speak five languages fluently, I’d be a pretty happy person.
The longest I could survive without my cell phone: At least one day. I would LOVE to survive longer but people would get annoyed. I have too many important people to talk to.
One word your mother or father would use to describe you: Ambitious
Favorite sports figure: Kerri Walsh—she has children and still playing in AVP tournaments. Fantastic!
My greatest moment in sports was: It’s not fair to crown one moment the “greatest”, but I’ve had some awesome moments--placing in the IHSA State Track meet, beating Carthage last year felt awesome, going to nationals for the first time in my volleyball club’s history.
The best player I ever faced was: Probably Alysia Mayes. I was lucky to be her teammate, too, at one point. That girl knows how to hit and block a ball. She just graduated from Southern Illinois.
Worst dresser on my team: I have to say we’re all relatively good-looking. Ethan, our manager, has some questionable outfits, but we’re working on that!
Thing that’s been in my fridge the longest: Probably cheese or frozen chicken. We always buy so much and forget.
Person I’m dying to have dinner with: Jason Segel
Favorite food: Greek yogurt, peanut butter, dipped ice cream cones
Vegetable I won’t eat: BEETS
Pepsi or Coke? I don’t drink either very often but I’ll vote for Coke
Favorite TV shows: "Modern Family", “How I Met your Mother” “White Collar”
Favorite musical groups: Too many-- Mumford & Sons, Zac Brown Band, John Mayer, The Lumineers, Michael Bublé
Favorite movies: “Coach Carter,” “Grease”, “Back to the Future” and variety of chick flicks
If a movie were made of my life, I would like the following person to play me: Jennifer Lawrence or Kristin Wiig. Both would capture my sense of humor extremely well.
If my life were on TV as a reality show, I’d call it: I believe the actual reality show is called “Punk’d” except Ashton Kutcher doesn’t walk out afterwards and says I’ve been “Punk’d”—My life is a comedy, for sure.
The person in history I would most like to meet is: John F Kennedy
My dream job would be: ROCKSTAR
Place I’d most like to live: Somewhere next to a lake
Two things that are tops on my “bucket list”: 1) Witness an Olympic Game as a fan. 2) Take a self-defense class
My possession that would fetch the most on eBay: The comic book collection in my closet.
Who is the luckiest person in the world? Those people who share the same blue wristband as mine. They know how lucky they are.
What I miss most about being in the third grade: Recess and “reading time”
