University of Delaware Athletics
Andie Hanus Leads Delaware Volleyball On And Off The Court
11/8/2019 11:54:00 AM | Volleyball
The libero is not a glamorous position on the volleyball court. They don't spike kills or get blocks at the net. Typically the most skilled defensive player on the team (and the one wearing the contrasting jersey), liberos do the dirty work of digging the first ball and setting up the offense for success.
The blue-collar ethos of the position matches the Midwestern background of Delaware volleyball's senior libero, Andie Hanus, who currently leads the Colonial Athletic Association with 4.84 digs per set.
A highly recruited player out of Marian High School in Omaha, Nebraska, Hanus spent two years playing for SEC power Missouri, including runs to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in both 2016 and 2017. After two years as a Tiger, Hanus transferred east looking to take the next step in both her volleyball and academic career.
"The Midwest is a great place to grow up, but you have to experience other things in your process of life. I'm an International Relations and Public Policy major, so I wanted to end up on the east coast towards the D.C. area," Hanus said. "So that kind of worked for my major, and then obviously when I came and visited here and met all the coaches, I fell in love."
While she was a defensive specialist at Missouri, Hanus has stepped into the libero role at Delaware the past two seasons, becoming a leader for the Blue Hens both on and off the court.
"Andie is invaluable to our team," head coach Sara Matthews said. "Her first-ball contact has been so consistent for us all year. Her passing numbers are great. From a leadership perspective, she's everything you could want in a leader. She relates really well to the girls. She kind of knows what they need to pick them up."
"When I first got here, a big part of what I wanted to do was raise the level of the gym as a whole. As a libero, you don't get a lot of glory, you don't finish plays, you don't earn points, but I think liberos are really important to setting the tone of a gym, and setting the tone of work ethic and pursuit," Hanus said. "I wanted to help shape the culture towards just even more of a championship-level culture."
Matthews points to Hanus's consistency as one of her best attributes. She has recorded double-digit digs in all but one match this season, including a two-match stretch where she recorded 32 and 29 digs in matches at UNCW and Charleston, respectively, in the span of three days. That same road trip saw her notch her 1,000th career dig.
"She's the type of libero that you don't notice, because she's not flashy or over-the-top, but all of a sudden you look down and she had 30 digs," Matthews said. "She just does her job quietly and really gets it done."
In addition to getting the job done on the back row, Hanus already has a post-graduation plan: she'll be getting her international MBA at Delaware, and has already taken the LSAT to go to law school after that. While she doesn't have a specific career path set (yet), she knows she'll have the educational foundation to make an impact on the world.
"At some point, I don't know if it was the current political climate or where I thought my strengths were as a human being, but I started to fall in love with the idea of understanding all these different cultures and how they relate to each other and how they interact with each other," Hanus said. "The world's a really big place and it's full of a lot of different people. I think that's a really cool thing to learn about, and how different governments handle things and how we can learn from that here."
While digging balls on a volleyball court and changing the world may seem like they're completely unrelated, Hanus connects the two clearly. The Blue Hens roster features players from not only the east coast, but also Texas, California, and Turkey.
"A big part of being a student-athlete is interacting with a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds. How that's developed their life and their personality, and what motivates them and keeps them going is something I really enjoy deciphering as a teammate," Hanus said.
At 12-11, Delaware has already eclipsed its win total from the past two seasons, and with four conference matches remaining, the Blue Hens are still in the hunt for their first CAA tournament berth since 2016.
"I think in my short time I want people to remember me as someone who did help change that culture and start the shift, and I think that's what we're starting to do this year," Hanus said. "I think this is really the building blocks of what this program could be, I think we're starting to really lay that foundation, and you're starting to see success from it, you're starting to see it come to fruition. I hope people remember me as someone who was a catalyst for that change."
Â
The blue-collar ethos of the position matches the Midwestern background of Delaware volleyball's senior libero, Andie Hanus, who currently leads the Colonial Athletic Association with 4.84 digs per set.
A highly recruited player out of Marian High School in Omaha, Nebraska, Hanus spent two years playing for SEC power Missouri, including runs to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in both 2016 and 2017. After two years as a Tiger, Hanus transferred east looking to take the next step in both her volleyball and academic career.
"The Midwest is a great place to grow up, but you have to experience other things in your process of life. I'm an International Relations and Public Policy major, so I wanted to end up on the east coast towards the D.C. area," Hanus said. "So that kind of worked for my major, and then obviously when I came and visited here and met all the coaches, I fell in love."
While she was a defensive specialist at Missouri, Hanus has stepped into the libero role at Delaware the past two seasons, becoming a leader for the Blue Hens both on and off the court.
"Andie is invaluable to our team," head coach Sara Matthews said. "Her first-ball contact has been so consistent for us all year. Her passing numbers are great. From a leadership perspective, she's everything you could want in a leader. She relates really well to the girls. She kind of knows what they need to pick them up."
"When I first got here, a big part of what I wanted to do was raise the level of the gym as a whole. As a libero, you don't get a lot of glory, you don't finish plays, you don't earn points, but I think liberos are really important to setting the tone of a gym, and setting the tone of work ethic and pursuit," Hanus said. "I wanted to help shape the culture towards just even more of a championship-level culture."
Matthews points to Hanus's consistency as one of her best attributes. She has recorded double-digit digs in all but one match this season, including a two-match stretch where she recorded 32 and 29 digs in matches at UNCW and Charleston, respectively, in the span of three days. That same road trip saw her notch her 1,000th career dig.
"She's the type of libero that you don't notice, because she's not flashy or over-the-top, but all of a sudden you look down and she had 30 digs," Matthews said. "She just does her job quietly and really gets it done."
In addition to getting the job done on the back row, Hanus already has a post-graduation plan: she'll be getting her international MBA at Delaware, and has already taken the LSAT to go to law school after that. While she doesn't have a specific career path set (yet), she knows she'll have the educational foundation to make an impact on the world.
"At some point, I don't know if it was the current political climate or where I thought my strengths were as a human being, but I started to fall in love with the idea of understanding all these different cultures and how they relate to each other and how they interact with each other," Hanus said. "The world's a really big place and it's full of a lot of different people. I think that's a really cool thing to learn about, and how different governments handle things and how we can learn from that here."
While digging balls on a volleyball court and changing the world may seem like they're completely unrelated, Hanus connects the two clearly. The Blue Hens roster features players from not only the east coast, but also Texas, California, and Turkey.
"A big part of being a student-athlete is interacting with a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds. How that's developed their life and their personality, and what motivates them and keeps them going is something I really enjoy deciphering as a teammate," Hanus said.
At 12-11, Delaware has already eclipsed its win total from the past two seasons, and with four conference matches remaining, the Blue Hens are still in the hunt for their first CAA tournament berth since 2016.
"I think in my short time I want people to remember me as someone who did help change that culture and start the shift, and I think that's what we're starting to do this year," Hanus said. "I think this is really the building blocks of what this program could be, I think we're starting to really lay that foundation, and you're starting to see success from it, you're starting to see it come to fruition. I hope people remember me as someone who was a catalyst for that change."
Â
Players Mentioned
DS/L
/ VolleyballHighlight: VB CAA Champions - 11/18/23
Sunday, November 19
Highlight: VB vs. Hofstra - 10/22/23
Sunday, October 22
Highlight: VB vs. Hofstra - 10-21-23
Saturday, October 21
Highlight: VB vs. Charleston - 10/1/23
Monday, October 16
