Hannah Gabriel '27 Recruiting Profile

If you ask most professional volleyball players around the world about when they started playing volleyball, most would give you a response that they’ve been playing since they were 5 or around that age. If you were to ask me, I would tell you I have only been playing this sport since my freshman year. Growing up, my parents loved to take us on hikes or any other physical activity. Since I was young, I remember my dad would take my sister and I to a park and we would play soccer with him. I loved the sport of soccer and I invested time into watching soccer, staying updated with the players, and so much more. It’s something that brought my dad and I closer. But as my 7th grade year came closer, I started to get introduced to volleyball. I had never liked volleyball because I had found it boring. My younger self loved a sport that made you run everywhere and volleyball just didn’t seem like that. But as I began to play more and more, I realized that volleyball was actually fun. Quickly gaining an interest in the sport, my mom signed me up to play with a local public middle school. I was homeschooled from K4 to 7th grade so I wasn’t used to the school environment. I went to tryouts and found out that I had the A team. I was in utter shock as I didn’t believe that I was “that good.” This is experience played an important role in showing me that I should believe in myself. My eight grade year I finally attended a small private school called Livingstone Adventist Academy where my sister was currently a sophomore at. I loved attending her volleyball games and seeing her play. I looked up to her a lot as I began my high school journey in 2023. I joined the volleyball team and was placed as a starting player for each game. We were a small school that had voluntary coaches who usually had little to no experience with the sport. Through all of this, I pushed myself to become the best player I could. On my free time I would watch players such as Delaney Moon, Morgan Hentz, and Jordan Thompson and the techniques they would use. At the end of the season my team ended with a 0-12 league. We had lost every game. As most of our players felt sad and resented for the results of the year, I took this experience to evaluate what went well and what could have been better. I prepared myself for the following year by attending the Crosshill Christian volleyball Camp, Salem Academy Volleyball Camp, and attending open gyms in local gyms. Finally my sophomore year began. I was given a position as a setter even thought that was not the position I wanted. The coach saw me as a setter so I began working on being the best setter I could. Once again, the season ended with a 0-12 season. And once again, I moved past that and looked into preparing for the following year. Through all of these experiences, I have learned that volleyball isn’t an easy sport and that it requires an athlete who is willing to work hard, play with all their effort, dedicate themselves, and often make sacrifices for the sport. It has taught me to always push myself especially in hard times. I have a passion for the sport and I am looking forward to seeing what God has planned for me in my volleyball career.