UW's Kayla Mazzocca not allowing Type 1 diabetes to slow her down

Nov. 8—Junior Kayla Mazzocca hasn't allowed Type 1 diabetes to slow her down on the University of Wyoming volleyball team.

The Hartville, Ohio, product was diagnosed with Type 1 just 10 days prior to the date she was supposed to report to Laramie as a freshman. Amid summer workouts, Mazzocca felt she was getting weaker rather than stronger and decided to take a doctor's visit that changed her life forever.

"I started to notice that I was super fatigued," Mazzocca said. "I was doing the workout and felt more and more out of shape. I was nauseous all the time, and knew something was wrong.

"I started to have blurry vision, and felt like I was going to pass out a lot. The doctor sent me to the emergency room, and they spent about a week and a half figuring out what was going on before I got on a plane to move across the country."

Mazzocca makes it a point to get ahead of common diabetes misconceptions, and encourages people to understand the differences between Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 is caused by the pancreas making little to no insulin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Insulin helps blood sugar enter cells to help produce energy.

Type 2 is when cells don't respond normally to insulin. The pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond, causing a person's blood sugar to rise, according to the CDC.

"I think many people hear diabetes and think, 'Well, you should've stayed away from sugar, and you need to diet and exercise,'" Mazzocca said. "With Type 1, that's just not the case. I didn't cause this, and there is nothing I could've done to prevent this. My diet didn't cause this, my immune system attacked itself and left me with a broken pancreas.

"So, I can still eat whatever I want. I don't have to exercise constantly, because nothing is going to cure my diabetes. It's not something I ever could've avoided happening."

Mazzocca has felt supported by the Laramie community since her diagnosis, something that led to her feeling at home right away. During her freshman year at UW, the refrigerator in her dorm room broke and a campus maintenance worker prioritized her request because he was a Type 1 diabetic.

UW is no stranger to athletes with Type 1, as former linebacker and current Jacksonville Jaguar Chad Muma shares the same diagnosis. Muma shares his experiences with Type 1 regularly, and while Mazzocca hasn't had the chance to meet him personally, hearing his stories has comforted her.

"I had a lot of people tell me about Chad when I received my diagnosis," Mazzocca said. "Hearing what he went through and seeing what he's been able to accomplish told me: If he can do this, then I can, too."

Over the years, Mazzocca has enjoyed the opportunity to talk with volleyball campers about her diagnosis. She tells the younger athletes nothing can stop them from pursuing their dream if they work hard enough for it.

Volleyball has been in Mazzocca's life since she was 11 years old, and she started playing club with the intention of one day playing in college when she was 13. Mazzocca spent six years for the Nova Juniors club team based out of Akron, Ohio.

Her dream of playing college volleyball came from watching her older sister, Brooke, play a high school match against an Ohio State volleyball recruit. The idea of playing college sports fascinated her and created a drive she hasn't been able to stop since.

Mazzocca prides herself on how committed she is to the game, and thinks she has a competitive edge over other players. The junior wants to be the ultimate team player, both on and off the court.

"I have the mentality that I am going to block every ball, even though that doesn't always happen," Mazzocca said. "I have the mentality that I am going to kill every ball, which doesn't always happen. But I can be competitive to a fault. I want to be the best player on the court, in the gym and in the state, whether that's giving energy, competitiveness or a calming presence on the court.

"I want to give the team everything that we need to be successful. No matter what that looks like, especially this year, where I've focused on being a giver to all of my teammates. That's with energy, excitement and anything else they may need."

Since her diagnosis, Mazzocca's approach to volleyball has been forced to change. She had to alter that way she trains, and for the first time in her life, Mazzocca was forced to pay attention to how she fueled her body.

"My freshman year was a lot of trial and error," Mazzocca said. "There was a lot of time spent where I was trying to learn how to deal with it and pay close attention to it. So, there was a lot of rough days for me that year before I realized how I needed to eat and treat my body to maintain my blood sugar and compete at a high level.

"I've had a huge learning curve since then and don't have nearly as many bad days as I did then. I've learned how my body responds to certain things, and I now know how to make it through a two-hour long practice and an hour-long lift or a travel day."

Her parents, Carl and Beth, have not had any prior experience with diabetes, and Mazzocca believes the diagnosis was scarier for them than it was for her. They heard every horror story possible about how the diagnosis can lead to death, Mazzocca said.

Despite the worry, her parents have been her biggest supporters throughout her career. Her mom played Division I basketball at Akron, and understands the rigors of playing sports at the college level. Her dad did not play sports in high school or college, but has been the biggest fan possible throughout her career.

Former UW volleyball player and the first five-time All-Mountain West honoree Jackie McBride was a mentor to Mazzocca early in her career. Mazzocca used the time she had with McBride at the middle-blocker position to absorb as much knowledge as she could.

This season, UW has seen the highs of an 11-0 start through nonconference play and the lows of being on the outside looking in for a MW title. Mazzocca thinks the Cowgirls have used this season to establish the culture they want in the program going forward.

"This season, we've played our best when we're having fun and embracing the grit and grind of our team," Mazzocca said. "We have to play with defensive intensity and play together consistently.

"We won't be a weak opponent for anyone playing like that, and that's how we're going to reach the postseason."

Austin Edmonds covers Laramie High, University of Wyoming and community athletics for WyoSports. He can be reached at aedmonds@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @_austinedmonds.