Hannah DiGiulio '18 Recruiting Profile

I began playing volleyball in 2014—my freshman year in high school—after having played basketball and soccer since I was 5 years old.  In soccer, I played intramural in my town (although I played 1 year of travel), and played mostly center midfield, center back, or goalie.  I played up until my sophomore year of HS.  In basketball I played every position, even up until my last year of playing (8^th grade)—wherever the coaches needed me, I played.  I gave up basketball when I got to high school because I was tired of the emergency room visits! (concussion, broken arm, various sprains, broken orbital bone).  I think coming back after injuries made me realize how tough I really am.

I became the setter for my freshman volleyball team, and was moved to JV halfway through the season.  I continued as a setter through my junior year (on JV).  I began playing DS for varsity my junior year, after starting out as an opposite.  I was a setter for my club team my first two years, and was exclusively libero last club season.  My senior season for the high school, I played libero, DS, and setter—wherever the team needed me.

My club teams were not very good.  But even though we didn’t win a lot, it taught me to always be positive and instructive with my teammates, and to never give up—even if down by a lot.  In fact, one of my best memories was from the 2016 club season at the GEVA regionals.  We were in the Bronze bracket and had a string of come-back wins—sometimes being down as much as 24-17—to win the bracket.  The coach even allowed me to call timeouts when I thought the team needed it, and let me lead the timeouts.  The team stayed positive, never gave up, and we won. 

Throughout my athletic career (so far), I have been on teams that have won and those that have lost (a lot).  It’s those experiences on teams that lost that have given me the leadership qualities I have now:  stay positive, work hard, do what’s best for the team, and never give up.