Freshman libero Halle Harker (center) prepares for a serve in an exhibition match against Mount Royal University on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils swept the Cougars 3-0. (Photo by Ben Moffat)The road to find the long-term replacement for the graduated Stephanie Preach was supposed to be a tough one. In fact, ASU coach Jason Watson has said in the past that there won’t be another Preach.
The Sun Devils may have come as close as they could with the discovery of freshman libero Halle Harker.
Watson noticed her work ethics and strengths in the preseason as she competed with sophomore libero Mia Mazon and redshirt freshman libero Genevieve Pirotte for the starting job.
“If anyone’s kind of ahead of anyone else, I think Halle Harker is a little bit,” Watson said before the regular season started. “I think that she’s doing this nice job.”
Harker took the opportunity and has run with it.
“I’m taking the opportunity that has been brought to me and completely working my hardest and giving everything I have to give,” she said. “That’s all I can do.”
Working hard. It’s something she spoke a lot about and remained humble when talking about the positives about her game. When asked what she brought to the team, she simply answered, “My position.”
Harker talked about what she needed to improve upon.
“My position is passing,” she said. “So passing the ball, defense, digging over my head … there’s so much that I can do so there’s not anything I can narrow it down to.”
Freshman libero Halle Harker sets the ball against Iowa on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils swept the Hawkeyes, 3-0. (Photo by Ben Moffat)The libero is more than a passing position. It captains the defense and often sets up the offensive play with an accurate dig.
“She’s carrying a big responsibility for a true freshman,” Watson said.
He’s impressed by the fact that she’s a true freshman. It comes up whenever he talks about her.
Her age and inexperience is one dilemma, though. Watson said that she’s hesitant to give directions on the court to established players like sophomore outside hitter Kizzy Willey and junior outside hitter Macey Gardner.
The latter, who was selected to First Team All-Pac-12 in her freshman year, said she saw this but was quick to defend Harker.
“I think any player right now can honestly give more direction, give more feedback,” she said.
She called giving direction a “heightened aspect” of the libero’s duties, because of their position on the court and ability to see the whole floor and find seams.
“Having her being able to open her mouth and just communicate seams and not being afraid to be loud and being direct with the older girls," Gardner said. "I think that’ll be able to help us."
Although she’s quiet, her confidence has helped the team.
“That confidence on the court is really just so calming when we’re out playing in the game,” Gardner sad. “It’s very rare for a freshman to have that unique attribute.”
That confidence has grown despite playing volleyball for only six years. Before she played volleyball, she competed in a different sport on the court.
“I used to be a gymnast, and I hated it,” Harker said. “It was a lot of work and a lot of demanding your body.”
She said that in the seventh grade, her friend tried out for the volleyball team and invited Harker to tag along. Harker went and made the team.
“I went to the tryout, and I loved it every since,” she said.
Harker attended Liberty High School in Bakersfield, Calif. As a senior, she played in 98 sets, recording 731 digs and 770 serve returns.
She received an offer to play at ASU.
“I say it’s a good thing,” Harker said. “It was totally unexpected and just fit.”
She does fit, and Watson said this early in the season.
“She’s fitting in extremely well with the team, and we couldn’t be more happy with what she’s doing,” he said.
In ASU’s six matches to begin the year, Harker has a team-leading 61 digs and has nine serve returns.
“It’s not just that she digs it," Watson said after the Iowa match. "I think she digs it and puts it in a place that allows us to go return it."
He said she’s looking more comfortable on the court and playing well, but Harker knows she still has a long way to go to be the libero ASU needs.
“One of my goals was definitely to start and I achieved that but now that I’ve started I need to embrace this and work just as hard no matter what and really give everything I have,” Harker said.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Logan_Newsman
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