In its 25th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN RISE, today announced Mary Hoey of Pope High School as its 2009-10 Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Player of the Year. Hoey is the first Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Player of the Year to be chosen from Pope High School. The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Hoey as Georgia’s best high school volleyball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award, to be announced in late December, Hoey joins an elite alumni association of past state volleyball award winners, including USA Volleyball Olympians Kim Glass (2001-02, Horseshoe HS , Penn.), Kim Willoughby (1998-99 & 1999-00, Assumption HS, La.) and Ogonna Nnamani (1999-00, University HS, Ill.).
The 5-foot-11 junior outside hitter recorded 519 kills and 266 digs this past season, leading the Greyhounds (52-2) to the Class AAAAA state championship. The two-time Cobb County Player of the Year as named by the Marietta Daily Journal, Hoey also totaled 81 service aces and 29 blocks during her senior campaign. A three-time Class AAAAA First Team All-State selection as named by the Georgia Volleyball Coaches Association, she amassed 21 kills, including the match-clinching spike, in a 3-2 state final victory against Walton. Hoey currently ranks second all-time among Georgia prep competitors in career hitting percentage.
Winner of her school’s Faculty’s Choice Award for academic achievement, Hoey has maintained a 4.28 GPA in the classroom. A member of multiple Pope High academic clubs, she has volunteered on behalf of her church, as a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, as a youth volleyball instructor and as part of area food and clothing drives. Hoey has also raised funds to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
“We played them three times this year, and it was not a good outcome each time,” said Clay Taylor, head coach of rival Harrison High. “She gets that team to go where she needs them to go. She is so consistent. She brings a quiet intensity to the game. She gets after it and gets the job done. Everybody knows she has her job, her position, her spot taken care of. Her teammates know she’s got their backs. She’s a solid hitter, and she can hit from any position comfortably. Serving, like any great player, she can really hit it. She could probably set, too, if she wanted.”
Hoey will begin her senior year of high school next fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
Hoey joins recent Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Players of the Year Monique Mead (2008-09, Landmark Christian), Betsy Smith (2007-08, Wesleyan School), and Mary Ashley Tippins (2006-07, Marist) among the state’s list of former award winners.
To celebrate the award’s 25th anniversary, Gatorade wants you to vote for the All-Time Greatest Players of the Year at gatorade.com/POY25. To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
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