Outside hitter wins Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week
Starting the season in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, meant that the Troy volleyball team would not have an easy shake at things coming out of the gates. In fact, two of the three games the Trojans played in Louisiana came against Power Five opponents.
Troy came away from the road trip with a 2-1 record and a newfound sense of identity. With that sense of identity came the reminder of a returning anchor for the team. Her name is Tori Hester.
The 5’9” outside hitter is a senior on this years’ team – but she is not the only athlete in the Hester Family. Both her parents, Tricia and Chip Hester, lettered as student athletes at Guilford College. Tori Hester also shares the love of volleyball with her sister, who attends Catawba College.
Hester has been a consistent center piece for the team, stepping into her own during her sophomore season. Hester broke out during 2022, ending the season as a member of the All-Sun Belt First Team. She ended that season with 522 kills, which was 15th best in the nation.
Hester also set career highs in digs, 23 versus Georgia Southern, and kills 27 versus Southern Miss. That set the table for a stellar junior season, where she started 105 sets and 28 matches.
In 2023, the junior found herself a member of the All-Sun Belt First Team list. The Salisbury, North Carolina native followed her 2022 campaign by averaging 4.21 kills per set.
On the defensive end, she was active as well, tallying 302 digs, second most on the team.
Hester showed why she was a 2022 All-Sun Belt First Team member by making history.
During the season she reached 1,000 kills, a feat only 12 prior players had achieved.
Beginning this season, Hester has remained her dominant self. The senior finds herself in the team’s top five in most statistical categories. She currently leads the team in kills with 68.
Twenty-nine of her kills came against New Hampshire, which set the program record for most kills in a four-set match. Hester also finds herself leading the team with three service aces, two of which came against Big 10 opponent Maryland.
Hester has become a dominant outside hitter in the Sun Belt Conference. Her previous campaigns have set the table for the Trojans star to put a storybook bow on the end of her Trojan career.
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