Nov. 10, 2010
Hillary Fountain was born to play volleyball. Not only does it run in her family, but she basically was born with a volleyball in her hand.
"When my mom was pregnant with me, I pretty much played volleyball," Fountain said.
The 5-9 setter from Holland, Ohio, is as close to a volleyball legacy as you get. Her mother, Bonnie, and her mother's twin sister, Kathy, were charter members of the University of Toledo varsity volleyball team. Her father, Robert, played club volleyball at Toledo as well, and she has other aunts and uncles who played too.
Fountain started playing competitive volleyball at the age of seven. Her mother was her coach for two years at the Toledo Volleyball Club before sending her off to learn from other coaches. Fountain played for TVC until she was 18 while also playing for her middle school and high school teams.
The only girl of four children, Fountain had no choice but to be a competitive athlete. With three brothers, she was always playing either soccer or basketball in the backyard. As is the case with any girl who grows up with brothers, she learned to be tough quickly while developing into not only a good volleyball player, but a great all-around athlete.
Fountain played just about every sport a girl could play. From softball to basketball and soccer, to even taking dance and gymnastics, Fountain was an active kid. That activeness and love of sport has not been lost throughout the years. Fountain is one of the most vibrant and exciting players to watch play.
When she is on the court, excitement radiates from Fountain after every point won. Beginning her freshman year, Fountain started what is called "The Hill-Shake." It started as just something she did to show her excitement but throughout the years, the Hill-Shake has caught on and is expected after every big point. It has even been adopted by teams who come to Samford camps and clinics during the summer.
"I get excited over big plays and I guess I like to show my excitement through shimmying my shoulders," Fountain said. "I love being the little spark on the court that the team needs when I get excited. I think how I act on the court is a big influence on the rest of the team because as a setter, my teammates follow me. I think that is when we play our best - when we are having fun and showing our personalities through our play."
When Fountain got to Samford her freshman year, she was immediately thrust into a starting position. With former starting setter Jackie Jaszcz struggling to recover from a knee injury suffered the previous season, former head coach Michelle Durban had no other option but to start Fountain as a true freshman. However, she was confident in Fountain's ability to earn her teammates' respect and command the floor.
A setter is like the quarterback. She is the spark that starts an offensive explosion. She calls the plays and decides where the ball goes. It's a tough situation for a freshman to come into but Fountain's natural-born leadership shone bright that year, and she helped lead Samford to its first winning season in school history.
That year, Fountain posted 1256 assists which ranked her third on the single-season record list and immediately landed her in the top ten on the career list. She posted eight double-doubles that season and set her career-high in assists at 71 in a five-set win over Austin Peay. She was also named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team.
Her sophomore season, she was named first-team All-Southern Conference after leading the league in assists by more than 101 and just over one assist per set in Samford's first season in the conference. She ranked among the nation's best setters that year, ranking as high as second with 12.09 assists per set and ending the season ranked seventh with 11.63. She helped her team to its first-ever SoCon North Division title and its first postseason appearance in nine years.
She currently ranks third on Samford's all-time career assists list and needs just 24 more to move into second place on that list.
As a junior, she reprised her starting role, starting all 31 matches while sharing the court with freshman setter Casey Garvey. This season, Fountain and Garvey have shared the starting role which has given Fountain an opportunity to play a different role both on and off the court.
Recently, Fountain stepped into an attacker position and posted a huge performance in Samford's upset of SoCon-leading UNC Greensboro at home. She knocked down a career-high 13 kills and posted a .476 hitting percentage. She also grabbed six kills and a career-high seven block assists in Samford's sweep at Western Carolina last weekend.
While she has continued to help the success of the team on the court, she had seized the opportunity to help advise Garvey for what awaits her in the next two years.
"I want to coach in the future and I feel like this is an opportunity for me to step down as a player and coach Casey and prepare her for what's coming up next," Fountain said.
Fountain does want to coach and teach in the future. She said she sees herself teaching second or third grade down the road while coaching middle school, high school or club ball. When asked what motivated her to become a teacher, she brought it full-circle.
"I think it stems from playing sports," Fountain said."The motivation that you give them to complete something and the skills that you teach them, it's just awesome to see the smile on their face. I have a gift for volleyball I guess, incorporating other aspects in their life and making things interesting for them to learn."
Samford head coach Derek Schroeder feels that Fountain is just the right person for such a career. He feels that Samford has prepared her to take on the world and knows that she will be successful in whatever she does.
"Hillary's personality will take her a long way in her career and life aspirations," Schroeder said. "I believe that Hill's passion and dedication for the past four years with Samford volleyball will translate into the academic world and help her to be a teacher that inspires her kids through relationships and hard work."
Fountain credits her family as the most influential people in her life. She said her parents are there in the good and the bad - giving her feedback, listening to her problems and congratulating her in her successes. She said her older brother, Bobby, is the reason she is as competitive as she is. Her one goal as a kid was to beat her brother at anything. She recalls outscoring him in an indoor soccer game one time in high school, resulting in a week-long silent treatment.
Fountain will never forget her time at Samford.
"The people I've met will stick with me throughout the years," Fountain said. "I think the people here are just wonderful. The support staff, the volleyball program, the entire athletic program and my teaching program, they are all great people and I will take them with me."
