Thayer Hall Named 2017-2018 Gatorade National Volleyball Player Of The Year

Now considered the top athlete in the class of 2018 after being named the 2017-2018 Gatorade National Player of the Year, Florida commit Thayer Hall is a six-rotation outside hitter with a heavy arm and a brain for the game. 

As the youngest player — and the only one still in high school — on the U.S. junior national team that won a gold medal at the 2017 U20 Pan American Cup in Costa Rica, Hall led the team in points and earned the tournament’s MVP honor.

The three-time South Carolina Gatorade State Player of the Year led her Dorman High School team to its second consecutive state title this fall, smashing 638 kills on 1,243 attempts, and somehow still maintaining a .401 hitting percentage. She also came in second on the team with 361 digs. 

Florida head coach Mary Wise first saw Hall in action at a Florida volleyball camp when Hall was a freshman in high school. Even then, Wise said, you could tell the amount of talent and potential Hall had. 

“Thayer Hall is a six-rotation player who has the skills and the physical talent to be one of the most special players to ever come through this program,” Wise said. 

And that’s saying quite a lot when you’ve been the head coach of one of the most elite college volleyball programs in the country for almost 30 years.