The Herald’s 2025 All-Area Volleyball Player of the Year: Laura Eichert

Published 8:53 am Monday, December 22, 2025

LAKE STEVENS — By the end of her junior year volleyball season in 2024, Laura Eichert had accomplished more than most high school athletes ever will.

The Lake Stevens outside hitter was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Washington among several other state and conference accolades. The one thing missing was a state championship.

After playing a key role in the Vikings’ state runner-up team as a freshman in 2022, Eichert and Lake Stevens went on to lose in the semifinals in each of the following two seasons. In 2024, the Vikings lost 17-15 in the fifth set of the semifinals against Curtis, coming excruciatingly close to making it back to the title match.

As disappointing as it was, it only added fuel to the fire entering the 2025 season.

The last shot.

“I think it just made me personally, and the entire team, hungry for next year,” Eichert said. “Obviously, we graduated (three) seniors, but it just made us that (much) more motivated and ready to achieve our goals next year.”

Lake Stevens stormed through the 2025 season, dropping just one set throughout the entire regular season schedule and sweeping every round of the state tournament leading up to a rematch against Curtis. After dropping the first two sets, the Vikings staged an epic comeback to win 3-2 and claim the program’s first state title. Eichert delivered the clinching kill, her 44th of the match, which set a single-match program record.

It was the perfect finish to a season with 633 kills, 72 aces, 40 blocks and 260 digs. She averaged 6.5 kills per set and boasted a .422 hitting percentage. On top of winning the Washington 4A State Player of the Year and 4A State Tournament MVP, Eichert is The Herald’s 2025 All-Area Volleyball Player of the Year.

The accolades roll on and on: A four-time All-State selection (three-time First Team), a three-time Wesco 4A Player of the Year, an Under Armour All-American. She finished her high school career with program records in career kills (2,351), aces (250) and blocks (207).

But nothing topped winning the state championship with her teammates. Eichert called it her “favorite moment of my entire life so far.” All the work that went into helping the team break through for a title was worth it.

But how could an athlete who has already reached the pinnacle of performance at this level take another step forward?

“Her confidence level went through the roof,” Lake Stevens coach Kyle Hoglund said. “And when you can get to that confidence level, no matter where it is, then the rest of your game just gets better. It doesn’t matter — work, life or whatever it is — when you start to believe in yourself, more things get better. That and her leadership with her teammates was tremendously better this year. Her overall philosophy for herself and grace for herself was just better, and man, it’s crazy to see somebody that talented keep getting better every year.”

For Eichert, a lot of the confidence derived from the belief in her team. Along with the return of Olivia Gonzales and Kam Strom — who were also freshmen on the 2022 state finalist club — the Vikings saw a ‘sophomore leap’ from Ella Iseminger and Audrey Iseminger. Eichert led the charge, but she had plenty of support from her team.

That confidence, combined with her family dynamic, set the stage for continued growth. Eichert comes from an athletic family. Her mother, Lynne, is in the University of Idaho Athletics Hall of Fame following a standout volleyball career, and also serves as an assistant coach on Hoglund’s staff. Her older sister, Katelyn, shared the court with her at Lake Stevens for two years before starting her own college career at Westminster University in Utah.

So even as Eichert started to separate herself from her peers around her freshman year of high school, when she proved she could hang with the seniors on the court and also started receiving invites to prestigious training camps, her family kept her grounded, always striving for more.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever really gotten to the point of, like, ‘She’s arrived,’” Lynne said. “I feel like we just keep working on stuff.”

Eichert’s desire to continue reaching new levels impacted her college decision process as well. Originally committed to the University of San Diego, Eichert reopened her recruitment as her skills progressed to the point where she needed to reassess her goals. In addition to wanting to be closer to the family that shaped her into who she is today, she wanted to compete for a national championship in a major conference. Ultimately, she decided to take her talents to the University of Oregon.

One of the biggest things that stood out to Oregon coach Trent Kersten — aside from her ability on the court — was her ability to “dream big.”

“She was like, ‘Hey, I really want to come in and be a ‘Freshman of the Year’ type of player,’” Kersten said, recalling one of their conversations. “And ‘I want to do the things that it takes,’ and ‘What do I need to do? What do I need to work on?’ Very assertive. … She’s going to make sure that she’s in a place where she’s ready to come into her freshman year at Oregon and have an impact.”

According to Eichert, that goal-oriented mindset just comes first-nature at this point.

“We’re just a very driven family, and we always have goals,” Eichert said. “We’re always setting goals, talking about them with each other… I think it’s just the people who I surround myself with, and who I was raised to be.”

Another goal she accomplished was graduating early. With the help of her school counselor, Emily Chilson, Eichert organized her course load and picked up credits through Everett Community College in order to finish at Lake Stevens six months before her class walks at graduation. Just a couple of weeks following the holiday break, Eichert will be done with high school and head down to Salem, Ore. for her spring club season with North Pacific Juniors (NPJ) Forefront, which has played an integral role in her development over the years.

Instead of having to commute all the way down to Oregon multiple times per week, as she’s done in years past, Eichert will be able to stay there for more extended periods of time. By then, it will be a matter of months before she enrolls in Eugene and starts her next chapter.

Eichert departs Lake Stevens as the greatest player in program history. In case there was any debate, she received the “GOAT” Award from Hoglund at this year’s team banquet because “MVP is not enough” to describe her impact. Looking back on her Vikings career, Eichert could only describe it one way.

“It was just magical,” Eichert said. “I left this program with no regrets, and I think everyone can say that. It’s just a privilege to be part of this program, and being able to play for (Hoglund) and my mom.”