Growing up in Johnstown, Pa., playing all kinds of sports and competing with her brothers, Heather Blough never lacked for confidence on the court or on the playing field. She knew what she wanted to do, and she did it-almost always with the natural ease of the true athlete. She loved being in control of events and her team's destiny, and the positions she played reflected that: setter in volleyball, point guard in basketball, and shortstop in softball.

When it came to choosing a college, Heather had full scholarship offers in various sports to several Division I schools, including Syracuse University, University of North Carolina and University of Pittsburgh. And she came to Juniata. “I chose Juniata because it was the best fit for me,” she says. “I wanted to study science and I knew the volleyball team was one of the best. It was an easy decision for me.”

After earning three All-America designations from 1992 through 1994 as Juniata's setter and blasting through the biology POE, Heather knew what her next step was, and it didn't involve coaching. So why has Heather been working as assistant coach for Larry Bock since the late '90s? Call her the Accidental Coach. “I always thought I was too intense to be a coach,” she says, laughing.

After graduation, Heather worked in a physical therapy clinic and earned extra money as an assistant coach in volleyball and basketball at her old high school; Richland High School. She soon realized that coaching meant a lot more than running practices and executing game plans. “I figured out that as a coach you can teach an athlete much more than playing volleyball,” she says. “Coaches can be major influences in a student's life, maybe more than any other teacher.”

Heather felt so strongly about teaching and coaching that she decided to return to Juniata to earn her teaching certificate and student teach-in preparation for her anticipated career as a science teacher and high school coach. “I dropped by the gym to tell Larry I was back on campus and he called me later in the day to ask if I wanted to help out as an assistant,” she recalls. “I said sure, but by the time I earned my teaching certificate I realized I loved coaching on the collegiate level.

Perhaps part of that whistling was attributable to Heather's growing relationship and eventual marriage to Mark Pavlik, who had worked as an assistant coach for Larry Bock until leaving in 1993 for a coaching position at his alma mater, Penn State. Although Heather had been coached by Mark through 1993, their relationship did not turn personal until after her final year as a player in 1994. One day, he asked if he could take Heather and some other players out for a congratulatory dinner, and Heather couldn't make it.

“He called and told me he owed me a dinner, so we went out to the Allen Street Grill in State College,” she says. “We had been out for dinner 100 times, but this time it became something else.”

So far, that “something else” has turned into a two-coach family featuring Jack Pavlik, 3, as the inheritor of a lot of analytical and athletic genes. “I think coaching even helped me be a better mother; it's like having 16 daughters competing for your time,” she says.

Although Heather has interviewed for and been offered other coaching jobs, she has never found the dedication to academics and family friendly atmosphere she has at Juniata. It's what has kept her on campus as a part-time coach and convinced her to accept a full-time position as associate head coach in 2003. In that role she does it all: scheduling, recruiting, coaching, game strategy.

She even manages to balance family life by bringing Jack to the office or practices. The Pavliks have had to start carefully plan recruiting trips for child care issues, since Heather and Mark often travel across the country to convince athletes to come to their respective institutions, but neither would trade their jobs for anything else.

“We always say to each other 'Can you believe they pay us to do this every day?'” Heather says. “Both Larry and Mark told me they thought I wouldn't be a good coach because everything came so easily to me. But it turns out I love teaching and love being involved in everything about the team.”