By: Madi Balder
One of the most misunderstood positions in volleyball is the libero. You often hear people ask “who’s the girl with the different color jersey?”. The libero is known as the defensive specialist. Their position is set in the back row only. They play most of the game since they are considered the best passer on the team. Meet Hannah Glupker, libero for the varsity volleyball team. The libero is one of the hardest positions to play and they often have to dive all across the floor. In order to be a good libero they have to be vocal and willing to sacrifice their body at any point in a game.
Hannah Glupker serve receive against Coopersville.
Hannah Glupker has been playing volleyball since she was in the 3rd grade. She has been the starting libero for the Hamilton varsity team since she was a sophomore. Hannah described her favorite memory of the season as making music videos with the team. Her teammates describe her as supportive and encouraging. Her biggest supporter has been Joelle Boeskool. “Hannah is always positive and encouraging no matter what, even if we are down” said Joelle. Working on and off the court, she maintains a 3.8 GPA. When it’s off season she plays club volleyball and basketball.
When it gets tough Hannah doesn’t give up and pushes through and encourages others on the team. Hannah’s favorite part of volleyball is being with the team and all the friendships that she has because of volleyball. She has met and is still friends with lots of girls that she has grown close to throughout volleyball.
When asked what the hardest part of being the libero is, she responded with “Definitely covering the whole back line and trying to touch every ball.” This is extremely hard to do because she plays from middle back so she has a huge space to cover alone. The libero is challenged to touch every ball that comes over the net and that is a big challenge and it is a big part of setting up the hitters because the libero is an elite passer.Hannah expressed how much she loves the rush of accomplishment after she gets a good dig and that is every libero’s goal after a hard hit ball.
Hannah Glupker is ready for every ball against Allendale.
Outside of volleyball, Hannah loves spending time with her family at their cottage. She enjoys water sports like wakeboarding and wakesurfing. Hannah would like to continue playing volleyball next year for her senior year. She would like to go to college in Florida and study medicine and possibly continue to play volleyball in college.