Sidney Hamaker, who led Oswego to record heights in senior year, is the girls volleyball Player of the Year

Gary Mosley called every day with Sidney Hamaker the last two years “Groundhog Day.”

Oswego’s volleyball coach meant it as a compliment.

Every day since Mosley came aboard as head coach, he could count on his star outside hitter to give 100%. Different day, same Sidney, always trying to get better.

“We talk about the idea of ‘me versus yesterday me.’ Sidney took that to heart,” Mosley said “You cannot ask for a better role model.”

As Hamaker raised her own game, she raised the level of Oswego volleyball as a whole.

A program with limited volleyball tradition when Hamaker and the rest of Oswego’s talented senior class arrived became one of the state’s best.

They left their last mark of history this season.

Led by Hamaker, a senior outside hitter and Long Beach State recruit, Oswego won 32 matches, breaking the win record set by last year’s team. A year after coming up a win short, Oswego won the first conference championship in program history.

The Panthers won their second consecutive regional title, and reached the sectional final for the first time in school history.

“It still sucks how it ended, but looking back now I can see everything we have done for our program and high school in general,” Hamaker said. “No other team at Oswego has come close to doing what we have done. I’m just really proud of us.”

The Southwest Prairie Conference MVP, Hamaker had 354 kills, 162 digs, 43 aces and 20 blocks. The Record Newspapers Player of the Year for the second straight year, Hamaker and her teammates rewrote the Oswego individual record book. She broke school records for career kills (1,070) and aces (146) and finished fifth in blocks (81) and seventh in digs (371).

“She was the go-to player for us in practice and on the court in matches. She was our terminator when we needed to get a point,” Mosley said. “By far the best player I’ve had a chance to be a part of coaching. She will go on to do great things.”

Instrumental with her quiet leadership, Hamaker did not need the role of captain to be a leader on the team. The way she led by example with her competitive fire was invaluable.

“There is just an intensity inside of her that she brings with every single rep,” Mosley said. “That is the No. 1 trait in Sidney that stands out. She is that way every day, all the time. She wants every single point. You will have to earn every single point against her and she will try to make up every single point that she misses. That’s the way she plays all the time. There are no off plays.”

Teammates since seventh grade, Oswego’s seniors had the drive to be the best players they could be. Oswego went 16-15 and 18-18 Hamaker’s first two years of high school, which she played on varsity. The Panthers went to another level in 2023, winning 29 matches and the program’s first regional title in 12 years.

“We all had that drive to begin with and we knew from a young age that we could be successful with but I don’t think anybody expected us to be as good as we were,” Hamaker said. “We had a theme this year, ‘Respect,’ getting everybody’s respect. Nobody thought Oswego was good, ever, which was true until the last few years. We changed that for the program.”

Hamaker actually had fewer kills than her junior year, when she smashed the school record with 392. It was a testament to Oswego’s balance offensively.

But she felt she raised her game in other areas.

“Defense, I have got better than how I was last year,” she said. “I just got better at reading and anticipating where the balls would go. I stood in one spot last year.”

Her legacy at Oswego intact, Hamaker is set to move on.

She is graduating early and heading out to California next month to enroll at Long Beach State, the plan all along since she committed to the school a few years ago.

“I’m just excited to play at a high level, to go out there and experience everything I want out of it,” Hamaker said. “I decided I wanted to do it as soon as it was mentioned as an option. The benefits are so much since volleyball is a spring sport in college. I didn’t want to get thrown into volleyball. It gives me a chance to connect with the team and get acclimated with classes.”