After wrapping up a successful college volleyball career at South Alabama, Boerne Champion graduate Hannah Maddux is getting the opportunity to play at the next level.
Maddux was recently drafted by the Vegas Thrill of the newly formed Pro Volleyball Federation league. The 2019 Charger grad went in the fifth round as the 26th pick overall and was excited.
“The morning of the draft, I woke up and was so nervous. I played at a mid-major and they tend to get overlooked, so I’m glad they took a chance on me,” she said. “It was a pretty cool moment when they called to let me know they were going to draft me. I was at breakfast and we were all freaking out.”
The PVF starts playing matches in January and the season lasts 16 weeks. It’ll conclude with a championship weekend event, May 19.
The league begins with seven teams located in Atlanta, Columbus, Grand Rapids, Omaha, Orlando, San Diego and Las Vegas, with plans to expand to other cities.
Maddux said she was glad to be going to the Las Vegas team.
“I wanted to go to Vegas the whole time, it was at the top of my list,” she said. “Growing up we took road trips out west and went to all the national parks so I spent a lot of time in that part of the country. It’s beautiful and I’m familiar with it.”
Love of the game
Maddux spent an extra year in college because of COVID and was able to obtain a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and begin work on a master’s degree in strategic communications.
She’ll finish up her master’s while playing in Las Vegas and while she plans to go into broadcasting, the 6-foot-2 Maddux said her first love She said she wants to play for the foreseeable future. “I’m willing to go for as long as I can.
photo I’m not close to peaking and I feel I can get so much better,” said Maddux, who added that she was contemplating playing professionally in Spain and in Puerto Rico before Las Vegas came into the picture. “I’ve always been a late bloomer so I can only get better. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be playing but I want to go until I’m playing my best volleyball.”
Maddux credits her passion for the sport with her time at Boerne Champion.
“Champion is where my love for volleyball started. Playing with those teams my junior and senior years, I’ve never been on teams like that,” she said. “We are truly best friends and it’s the best group of girls. We’re all still super close. I loved Coach (Troy) Errington and loved playing at Champion. I’ll always be a Charger, I’m a very proud alum.”
The Pro Volleyball Federation just signed a contract with CBS Sports, so the games will air on national television. Every player makes $60,000 for the season, with a couple of franchise players on each team locked in at 100K.
Maddux said she’s looking forward to moving to Las Vegas at the beginning of the new year to get things rolling.
“I’m so excited, I’ll be playing against girls I’ve been watching play over the years,” she said. “I’m ready to get to work and get a spot and hopefully be playing.”
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