A professional volleyball player has been identified as the man who died in a jump from the Borgata this week.
Eric Zaun, 25, of Cherry Hill, made his professional debut in 2017, when he was named Rookie of the Year by the Association of Volleyball Professionals and VolleyballMag.com.
Zaun was found dead in the Borgata parking lot Tuesday evening. Police said it was believed he committed suicide by jumping from his hotel room on the 29th floor. A picture shows what appears to be a broken window.
“The AVP is deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Eric Zaun,” the Association of Volleyball Professionals said in a statement. “Our prayers and thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. He will be deeply missed.”
Zaun’s last tournament was the AVP New York City Open where he and partner, Avery Drost, took ninth place for the third time, VolleyballMag.com reported.
He was a popular player, well liked for his winning smiles and enthusiastic “Big Dawg!” greetings, the magazine’s Ed Chan wrote in a tribute Thursday.
“This is a huge loss for the entire volleyball community,” USA Volleyball CEO Jamie Davis said. “Eric was a talented young beach player and stepped up this spring to play snow volleyball for the U.S. He will be missed.”
Zaun’s last Instagram post a week before his death was caption “June is gonna be a good month.”
In a September podcast on fellow pro player Travis Mewhirter’s show, Zaun had advice on how to live life like you were dying.
“People say to live every day like it’s you’re going to die tomorrow, but you can’t do that because then you’d just have a party with your friends every night. It’s impossible,” he said on the SANDCAST. “So live every day like you’re going to die in three months, because I’d still be playing volleyball, I’d still be training, I’d still be going to these tournaments, I just would care less about little dumb stuff and care less about outside things, and just appreciate you have a great life. I have a great family, great friends. I’m real fortunate about that.”
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