More to come from Hatch
A state title at Marian. Tying a record in college. A torn ACL. Hatch gets ready for ‘a major comeback.’
First, a fun fact about former Marian Catholic girls volleyball standout Lauren Hatch.
She had a fantastic freshman season at East Tennessee State, tying the program’s all-time record for kills in a match.
“It was very much unexpected, but I’m very proud of myself,” Hatch said. “I mean, I couldn’t have done it without my team, of course. It’s something that I wasn’t expecting going into freshman year, but it was a wonderful accomplishment, to be sure.” Now, a not-so-fun fact. Hatch suffered an ACL tear in her left knee just a handful of matches into the 2020-21 spring season. She had successful surgery, and expects to be at full strength in the fall.
“I’m really ready for a major comeback,” Hatch said. “I’m going to put 100% of my effort to get back on that court and do what I love.”
Now, I’d like to weave in a couple of things about her character that — if you know her — probably won’t surprise you.
Hatch is a very loyal individual, and she’s pretty adept at recognizing loyalty as well.
Her first college of choice while at Marian was South Florida. One of the reasons was the rapport she had with assistant coach Benavia Jenkins.
In January of 2019, Jenkins left South Florida to take the head coaching job at East Tennessee State. One of the first things she did was call Hatch.
“She asked me, ‘What do you think?’” Hatch said. “I told her, ‘Yep, I’m following you. Wherever you’re going, I’m going.’”
There were rewards on both ends.
Jenkins gave Hatch a lot of playing time during her freshman season. The 5-foot-10 outside hitter responded with 344 kills and 226 digs — both ranking second on the team.
“For me, it kind of started off a little shaky,” Hatch said. “My nerves for sure, being a freshman, were a little high. But I became comfortable with my team, trusted my coach, and she trusted me to give me the role of being a leader and providing points. I became more confident in myself.”
What a smart choice — to stick with Jenkins.
“Oh, she turned it around for me for sure,” Hatch said. “She is tough on you, but you can tell from her toughness that she is like, ‘I 100% have confidence in you to be the best you can be.’ She really shows you that through practices and through matches. Her support was just unimaginable.”
In a Nov. 19, 2019 match against Chattanooga, Hatch put down 29 kills, tying the program record.
“I had no idea until they told me after the match what happened,” Hatch said, laughing. “I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ I knew I was playing well, but I had no idea it was a record.”
Hatch laughed some more when I asked what was better: Tying a college record, or winning a state championship at Marian when she was a sophomore.
“I take each accomplishment as high as it can be,” Hatch said. “The state championship was a
great one for me, and it’s something I’m very proud of. But I’m also very proud of tying the record. I can’t put one over the other.”
She’s also proud of teammate Olivia Cunningham. In a match on Feb. 14 against North Caroline Greensburg, Cunningham had 30 kills to break the same record Hatch tied the previous season.
“I was (taking stats of ) her during the match,” Hatch said. “At one point I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. She’s got this one for sure.’
“It was really cool to see her do it. I knew how it felt for me, so I
could imagine how it felt for her.”
It was so Lauren. Can a coach be any luckier than to have a player like Hatch?
“Even though she’s out now, she still plays a huge role for our program,” Jenkins said. “Lauren brings such calmness. And when I am upset, she can translate the head coach to the team and keep everyone positive. She’s just a really good person.
“We love her and we’ll need her in the future. We’ll take this injury now and get her stronger and get her back.”
I can’t wait to see it.