This is Hadlee Gray’s first season with the Mustangs. At six foot one, Gray provides explosive attacking at any part of the court. Throughout 12 games so far, she’s putting on a performance that can’t help but be noticed.
The volleyball team’s current record is 11-1, with big help from Gray’s performances.
Gray currently has 191 kills, 39 sets, 371 attacks, 12 matches started and a hitting percentage of .348 on her stat sheet.
On Aug. 25, Gray was named one of the top players in the state for her stats in her position.
Gray was honored to receive the recognition but she wouldn’t have been able to receive it without the help of her coaches and teammates.
“I was very excited and felt very grateful to receive it. It motivates me to get better throughout the season,” said Gray.
Gray spoke about how much volleyball has impacted her and how it has changed her life.
“I started off playing in 5th grade and I ended up playing until high school,” said Gray. “Then, I was actually recruited to play for San Francisco State my freshman year, but I had some problems, so I ended up moving back home so I attended Delta College which I’m happy that I did now, I get to be a part of this team for one year.”
Hadlee is an R-FR (Athletic Freshman Redshirt), meaning that she decided not to play her first school to save a year of eligibility.
Gray gave me a brief explanation on whether or not the team watches film in order to prepare for their next game.
“Yeah, we just got done watching film today. We watch film on our opponent for the week and kinda study it and figure out what we should do as a team to be able to beat them,” Gray said.
Head Coach Molly Hummel gave insight into what qualities of Hadlee made her choose her for the team.
“You know obviously she’s a very talented volleyball player that I think even more importantly, is that she’s a great teammate and she’s one of our team captains so she provides maturity last year she played at San Francisco State, so she brings a level of competitiveness to this team that helps drive and push them every day,” said Hummel.
Gray’s teammate, Catherine Frias, shared with me a situation where Hadlee’s personality truly shines.
“Last season, I was going through something pretty difficult and Hadlee would constantly check in with me to make sure I was okay,” she said. “Hadlee knows how to make anyone smile and she’s really good at making people feel heard and cared about,” said Frias
