Liberty volleyball assist leader Hannah Morris is finishing her flames career strong

For most, the senior year of college is a time to focus on the future, whether that be through exploring job opportunities, solidifying lifelong friendships or something else entirely. However, Flames’ senior setter Hannah Morris remains focused on the present as she looks to wrap up her volleyball career and instill a lasting competitive work ethic into her younger teammates.

Morris, an exercise science student with the goal of one day being a physical therapist, enjoyed a successful junior season last year, leading the team with 966 assists. Coming into her final season, where she is currently ranked in the top 20 nationally for total assists, Morris is very aware of her potential impact on the team.

“As a senior, I’m just looking to help my team the best way that I can,” Morris said. “I think the best way to do that is to lead by example, so I think I’m just trying to work as hard as I can and show the younger girls the culture and the standard that we’re looking to set for the team this year. That will hopefully carry over into the years to come.”

Morris’ dedication to teaching the younger players has not gone unnoticed among her team. 

“She’s very driven to help this program,” Head Coach Trevor Johnson said. “She has such a competitive spirit, and she really wants to win every drill. It’s really hard to teach that to a player who doesn’t have it, and so I think that infiltrates the rest of the team.”

Aside from her impact on the future of the program, Morris also noted a few areas of improvement that she has been working toward going into this season.

“It was hard coming in and learning the new tempo that Coach Johnson wanted, especially being faster to the pins,” Morris said. “So I’ve been working with our pin hitters this year to get to that tempo that we want, keeping it fast. So that was a difficult transition, but it has led to us connecting a lot better.”

Morris’s serving stuck out as an area of potential weakness in past seasons, but she has been performing well in that area thus far this season, as she has raised her serving percentage to .965, well above her marks from previous years.

“I would’ve said that’s what she needed to work on, but she’s been our best server these last few matches,” Coach Johnson said. “Her deep float service is really hard to pass. We’ve scooted her back, way back on the end-line and it just gives her time to float. That makes it hard for passers to make good passes on it.”

Besides volleyball, Morris excels in the classroom, being named to the ASUN All-Academic team last year. For some, athletics and school can be hard to balance, but Morris sees the value in prioritizing both.

“You just have to make school your priority,” Morris said. “At the end of the day volleyball is just four years of your life, and it’s a good four years, but after that, it’s your career that’s going to matter the most.”

Liberty is 5-4 on the season so far, but has yet to enter conference play. The team is looking to improve upon an ASUN tournament semifinal loss to Florida Gulf Coast University last year. Their next home game is Tuesday, Sept. 24, against Florida Gulf Coast University.