High school girls volleyball: Richmond-Burton's Addie Halverson commits to Jacksonville State

Richmond-Burton senior outside hitter Addie Halverson received a free look when the coaching staff from Jacksonville State noticed the Sports Performance Volleyball Club player by accident.

Ever since, women's coach Terry Gamble and the NCAA Division I Gamecocks made it clear they wanted the Spring Grove resident to make Jacksonville, Alabama, her new "home away from home."

"They watched me play at a tournament a couple of weekends ago," said Halverson, the 2016 Kishwaukee River Conference Volleyball Player of the Year. "They were there to watch someone else on the court, and they saw me play instead. She wasn't even on my team. They gave my club coach a card to contact them, and they’ve been calling me nonstop ever since."

Halverson flew to Alabama soon after to visit the campus and meet the team. On Thursday, she committed to Gamble and the Gamecocks. Halverson's sister, Waverly Halverson, redshirted at Florida International as a freshman during the fall.

Other recent players from R-B to play D-I volleyball are Penn State's Ali Frantti, the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year in 2013, and Bowling Green's Celena Kanagin.

Halverson also had strong interest from Syracuse, Maryland, North Carolina State, Tulsa and East Carolina.

"I'm excited for the the program. It's a really great program," Halverson said. "The girls are awesome, the coach is great, and he has a winning attitude. They like my personality on and off the court, they like that teammates can go to me for help, and they like that they can depend on me to get that next point."

Halverson said the warm weather also is a nice perk. She'll play both on the indoor volleyball team and the sand volleyball team, which was added this year.

Jacksonville State plays in the 12-team Ohio Valley Conference. The Gamecocks went 18-19 overall and tied for eighth place with a 6-10 conference record in the fall. The sand volleyball team plays in the spring, which started March 1.

Halverson plays her club volleyball with Aurora-based Sports Performance Volleyball Club. Her 18 Navy team placed first at the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships in Orlando last summer.

"It has a great family atmosphere, and the girls are all great," she said of Jacksonville State. "It has such a great support system within the school. It's also one of the top schools for business, which is what I want to major in."

In her final season at R-B, Halverson was a Northwest Herald All-Area first-team pick with 351 kills (second most in the area), 44 aces and 242 digs. As the Rockets' only senior, she led the team to a KRC championship and a 19-14 record, falling a win short of back-to-back regional titles.

She was one of 11 local players named to the Champaign News-Gazette All-State team as a special mention.

Halverson, a Class 2A state qualifier as a sophomore in the sprint relays on the Rockets' track and field team, was told she will start at outside hitter for Jacksonville State as a freshman.

"I was really excited when [Gamble] told me, because most freshmen don't have a chance to play much," she said. "Or they play very little. ... The coach said that I probably won't get pulled."

Halverson started playing volleyball in middle school, and was motivated to become better after not making her middle school team in seventh grade. It's a two-hour drive each way to her club team, which holds practice every day.

She said her four-year varsity career at R-B helped turn her into a leader both on and off the court. Halverson was voted team captain and led the team with 11 kills in her final match.

"It was a great opportunity because it allowed me to grow up," Halverson said. "Since freshman year, I've been training under Ali Frantti, and a bunch of other really good role models. They've all made me a better player."