Riley Hill. Brian Wilhite photo.
By Mike London
Salisbury Post
SALISBURY — College volleyball is different than high school.
The hitters are taller across the board, they’re getting more accurate sets, and they smash the ball harder.
But Catawba’s 5-foot libero Riley Hill is still doing what she’s always done. She’s still making digs, the routine ones and the incredible ones that only a small percentage of humans can make.
The East Rowan graduate is still early in her junior season, but she reached the 1,000 career digs milestone last weekend when Catawba beat Lincoln Memorial in a South Atlantic Conference match.
“The 1,000 milestone was a cool experience, but volleyball has been a big adjustment from high school,” Hill said. “When I was a freshman at Catawba, I didn’t get to start right away, but I performed well enough when I did get in there that I was starting at libero by the time we started conference play. And I’m still there. If someone who saw me play at East came to see me now they would see some differences. I’m a more confident player. I’m a more disciplined player.”
Hill looks like an Energizer Bunny on the court, diving and darting, but everyone has their limits.
“The college game is so much faster-paced than high school,” she said. “It’s very easy to get tired out there, so you have to do all the right things as far as preparation so you don’t wear out.”
Standing next to her 6-foot teammates for the national anthem, Hill looks like someone’s little sister has snuck into the gym, but she has a take-charge personality. She’s vocal. Liberos have to be.
“Oh, I’m still loud, I’m still Riley,” she said with a laugh. “Communication is one of my strengths. My job on the court goes beyond digging and passing and serving. I’m the vision for our hitters. I tell them how many hands are at the net in front of them.”
The libero, a back row defender who is usually the team’s best at digging and passing, is always conspicuous. Since they are governed by different rules than everyone else, there is only one libero per team. The libero is that young woman who looks like she didn’t get the memo about what uniform to wear that day. When her teammates are clad in red, Hill wears blue. When the rest of the Indians are decked out in blue, Hill puts on the red.
“The thing about playing libero is that everyone in the gym — fans, players and coaches — can see which one the libero is,” Hill said. “Sometimes teams try very hard not to hit the ball to the libero. That can be annoying because you want to make digs. You want to help the team as much as you can.”
Hill was a gymnast, a terrific tumbler, early in life and she also liked soccer, but when she discovered volleyball as a fourth-grader, she found her sport. She had the quickness for the sport and the drive to practice and train. She improved her skills with the High Rock Volleyball Club and then the Twin City Volleyball Academy.
“It’s a game I fell in love with because you have to be mentally strong as well as have all kinds of skills,” Hill said.
Hill’s sister, Baleigh, was a 5-foot-2 libero for East Rowan coach Sandy Lytton and went on to play in college for Barton. The Hill sisters grew up going to the Catawba volleyball games, and Riley became a fan of the school and the volleyball program. Her dream school was never Stanford or Louisville or UNC, it was always Catawba.
Hill was a 4-foot-10 freshman at East Rowan, so it was a red-letter day for her when she was measured at even 5 feet for the first time as a sophomore. She played in high school during the COVID years, but she still had 1,306 digs for her career. She had 540 serve receptions, 486 digs and 46 aces as a senior and led the team on and off the court.
She was named East’s Defensive MVP three times.
Hill wasn’t hard for Catawba to recruit, and she’s been a really valuable player for the Indians. She made the SAC All-Freshman team, was SAC Defensive Player of the Week three times during the 2023 season and was second team All-SAC.
Her dig totals dropped slightly from her freshman year to her sophomore year (424 to 393), but she had a 42-digs match against Emory & Henry that was one of the best efforts in program history.
“That was my best individual game at Catawba, a five-set match, with so many long rallies that gave me a chance to make digs,” Hill said. “As far as the best team match I’ve been a part of, that was when we won against Lenoir-Rhyne my freshman year.”
Catawba (5-6, 2-4) is very competitive this year, although the Indians have lost several close matches. They have only been swept once. They have won their last two.
“Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne are always the teams to beat in the SAC, but there’s not a single weak team in our league, no easy matches,” Hill said. “We won a set the first time we played Wingate, so I honestly believe we have the potential to beat any team in our league. Our team motto is ‘Rise Up!’ We’re putting the past behind us and moving forward.”
Hill does fine in the classroom, although she’s changed majors since she started at Catawba. She’s working toward a degree in Communications, although she’s not sure where that will lead her in the job market.
As was the case in high school, Hill is extra-involved off the court. She’s part of numerous clubs, councils and committees at Catawba. Her work with most of those organizations will be delayed until after volleyball season when she has more free time, but she’s helped organize theme nights for Catawba volleyball this season — Pink Outs, Black Outs, things like that.
Hill figures her next major milestone will be 1,500 digs. That will come as a senior. She hopes to play well enough the rest of this season to earn a SAC accolade or two. Everyone wants to be recognized and Hill was left off the All-SAC list in 2024.
That’s major motivation to have her best season ever. No one is going to out-work her.
She leads the Indians with 190 digs. Her high this season was 28 against Coker.
“Being a college athlete is so hard,” Hill said. “Most people don’t understand just how much time you spend lifting, studying film, getting treatments, practicing and traveling, in addition to the matches and doing the class work. Sometimes I’m really tired. Sometimes it’s 9:30 p.m. when I get home. But I’m not complaining. I love our team, I love our coaches, and I love playing volleyball.”
