U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
weren’t getting our feet to the ball and we were hitting really low, so we worked a lot on going slow to fast and taking a hard last two steps to the ball. That helps you hit higher, and that made a huge difference for me because I’m so long and I was always bringing the ball down into the block when the set was inside. The set gets left inside a lot because that’s what we train our setters to do. The problem was, I wasn’t getting my feet there. I felt like a different player after (working on it) and had a lot more confi dence in being able to hit every ball.”
huge part of our success.”
As Kiraly points out, her person- ality is “almost a contradiction; you could look at her and think, ‘This is just a really sweet young woman’ and not believe that there’s the killer instinct that there is in her.” That has actually been an issue for her in the past.
“I’ve had coaches tell me that I
TOGETHERNESS: Teammates consider Kim Hill (center) a positive infl uence on and off the court. (Photo: FIVB)
In club ball and for her fi rst two seasons at Pepperdine, Hill played middle, then was switched to opposite and now has found a home on the left.
The diversity of her background, along with two seasons of beach volleyball at Pepperdine (the Waves won the national
KIM’S LIKES Music
My all-time favorite is Beyonce. The Abbott Brothers are another big fave.
Books
The most recent is “Unbroken.” I loved it. Another one is “Les Miserable.” It’s a fat book, but I’m crazy about it.
Food
Any kind of Mexican food. I love breakfast burritos.
Hobby
I’ve gone through periods of playing the piano. I played when I was little, and I had a keyboard recently.
Movies
“Gladiator” is one of my all-time favor- ites. “Bridesmaids.” It’s stupid, but I love it. Also, “Sleepless in Seattle” and “When Harry Met Sally” are two of my faves.
Treats
My comfort food is pancakes. When I’m feeling down, I make pancakes for myself. If I have bananas, I’ll put them in, and I’ve been trying variations. I found a recipe with pears and blackberries. And I found a recipe with cinnamon sugar apples on it. But I love any kind of pancake.
sand title in 2011 and she and Frederick ad- vanced to the semis of the pairs tournament), has given her what Kiraly calls a “a wonder- ful all-around volleyball package.” That package includes what he describes as a “gnarly” jump fl oat serve that is “ridicu- lously hard to pass because it’s coming so fast and so fl at.”
Before she switched outside, Hill had done some passing earlier in her career as a middle and an opposite, but passing at the international level provided new challenges. The serves were harder, the ball was differ- ent, and the players around her – like out- side hitter Jordan Larson-Burbach and libero Kayla Banwarth – made it look easy. “Passing with Jordan and Kayla, who are amazing passers, was super intimidating,” she says. “But with time, I’ve improved. I’ve gotten to places where I have been passing well, so I’ve got the mentality that I know where I can be, which helps. Once you’ve reached a certain level, even if you’re not always there, you have the confi dence that you can get back up there.”
of a slippery fl oor. H
“There was sweat on the court that hadn’t been wiped up,” she says. “I went to pass a ball and jumped up on one leg and then landed on one leg, right where the sweat was. My feet came out from under me and splayed out, and I looked like Bambi. We’ve watched it over and over, and everybody gets a kick out of it.”
Hill laughs along with her teammates, which speaks to her reputation as a consis- tent source of positive energy.
“She lights up a room when she comes in,” U.S. middle blocker Christa Dietzen says. “She’s liked by everybody and is a
er nickname is Bambi. It came from a single play at a tournament in Ja- pan in 2013 when she was the victim
wasn’t competitive or tell me that I needed to be more angry or more ag- gressive with my teammates and yell at them,” she says. “It always tore me up because that’s just not who I am. I knew I was competitive and wanted to win, but for me, it’s never been my role to yell. I’m more of a light- hearted player. I get pumped up and competi- tive within myself and with my teammates, but I have fun and I enjoy every minute.” Yodeling is part of that enjoyment. It’s a skill she taught the entire team, and it’s often called upon — sometimes by Kiraly – to commemorate a birthday.
“My family used to go to this German restaurant every year for family members’ birthdays, and they’d walk around with accordions and sing and they had a happy birthday song,” she explains. “So I taught it to the team. I think it was in Serbia. And we ended up doing it too many times. I think everybody is sick of it. But my family dies laughing that my whole team knows how to yodel that song.”
eing an MVP doesn’t mean the tough stuff is behind. Just transition- ing from Poland in 2013 to Italy in 2014 threw her a few curves. Movies, for instance, were in English with subtitles in Poland. In Italy, they’re dubbed in Italian. So what was a source of much entertainment for her in Poland is now off the table. “(Living in a foreign country) teaches you to be independent and brave and to put yourself out there,” she says. “You grow a ton as a person because everything you do is hard, even the little every-day things that seem like no big deal.” Suffi ce to say, the last two years have been full as well as fulfi lling. Asked recently what she has learned from her rise in the game, she said this: “The biggest takeaway is that you have to make mistakes to grow. Even if you don’t think you’re going to make a team or accomplish something that you want, just go for it and try. Because you may actually achieve it, but even if you don’t, you’ll learn so much from the experi- ence.”
B
40 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
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