By Rubin E. Grant
The Hoover volleyball team is not in the habit of making excuses, but the Bucs are still wondering whether they would have been 2016 Class 7A champions if they had gone into the state tournament completely healthy.
The Bucs lost starting setter Jamie Gregg to a knee injury before the season began and, just before the start of the Elite Eight state tournament, her season-long replacement, Spencer Downs, went down with an ankle injury.
Subsequently, Hoover lost 3-1 to rival Mountain Brook in the finals, 25-11, 23-25, 25-12, 25-19, finishing the season with a 39-15 record.
“We don’t talk much about injuries in public,” Hoover coach Chris Camper said, “but our girls feel like they were dealt an unlucky hand. Because of that they are still having a tough time letting go of what happened. It still stings.”
Hoover will try to erase that disappointment this fall, but it will have to do so without outside hitters Kyra Hunter and Nora Webster, libero Olivia Portera and Downs, who all graduated.
Hunter signed with the University of New Orleans, while Webster and Portera turned down NCAA Division I volleyball scholarships. Webster, an excellent student, accepted an aca- demic scholarship to a school in Colorado, and Portera decided to attend Auburn and concentrate on being a student.
Their departures leave Hoover with only a few players who have varsity experience.
“This is a new team,” Camper said. “We have one girl coming back, Paige Shaw, who started last year. We’ve got some talent, but we’re going to be young and inexperienced.”
Shaw, a 5-foot-11-inch outside hitter, has committed to Memphis. She had an outstanding junior season, recording 495 kills, 313 digs and 67 aces.
“She is one of the best hitters in Alabama,” Camper said.
The Bucs’ other outside hitters are juniors who played little last season, Brayden Williams and MacKenzie Martin.
One big boost will come from the return of Gregg, a senior who started at setter as a freshman and sophomore. A two-sport star, Gregg already has committed to Mississippi State to play softball.
Camper said it could take her some time to return to playing volleyball at a high level after being sidelined last season.
“Physically, she’s fine, but she’s going to have to shake off the rust from being off for a year,” he said.
Junior Amiyah King will be the reserve setter because Grace Harris, who started in the state tournament as Downs’ replacement, elected to play club volleyball this fall.
Another key player will be libero Savannah Gibbs, a talented transfer from Panama City, Florida, who plans to sign with Jacksonville State. She will be backed up by Anna Marie Auchmuty, who played some last season.
“They’re both seniors, so it’s good to have some veterans at defensive specialist,” Camper said.
Camper also is looking for good things from talented 5-foot-9-inch eighth-grader Rya McKinnon, a middle hitter. Her dad, Ronald McKinnon, played in the NFL and is an assistant football coach at Miles College.
“I’ve never had an eighth-grader start for me,” Camper said. “She’s got a chance to be something special.”
Also getting time in the middle will be Martin and Caroline Raybon.
The Bucs will open the season Aug. 31 with a tri-match at Mountain Brook against the three-time defending Class 7A champion Spartans and perennial 7A contender McGill-Toolen.
“We’re so young, but we’re talented,” Camper said. “If you’re young and talented, you can get back to the Final Four, but you can also get knocked out in the area tournament.
“The sky is the limit for our team, but we’ve got a lot of questions to answer. We may not look like the team we hope we are until October.” ❖
