By Michael Letendre (Photo by Herve Letendre)
BRISTOL – Along the way in Bristol Eastern’s 3-0 sweep of Torrington in the first round of the CIAC Class L volleyball state tournament play on Monday, outside hitting sensation Hannah Webber picked up another accolade.
The senior continues to cruise through the 2021 campaign as one of the top spikers in the state and midway through the Lancers bout against the Raiders, an obvious cheer was heard coming from the Eastern sideline.
That was the reaction for Webber when she tallied her 500th kill of the season, giving the outstanding athlete another reason to celebrate over what has been a tremendous campaign to date for her and the Eastern program.
“She was pretty pumped about that,” said Eastern coach Stefanie Reay of the milestone. “We’re very, very, proud of her.”
Webber needed just over a dozen kills to scoop up that milestone against Torrington, entering the contest with already 485 kills to her name this season.
And she easily obtained that 500th kill as Webber smashed down 22 against Torrington and now has 507 on the year with plenty more to come
“It feels amazing,” said Webber, enjoying a few tasty Cheez-It crackers after the Torrington win. “I mean I appreciate that I have a team behind me that supports me no matter what and I could celebrate it with them.”
“It’s a big accomplishment.”
Webber averages around six kills per set this season and if she’s stationed in the middle of the court and setter Abby Jones lofts up a short serve, just get out of the way because the ball is about to crash down at about a million miles an hour.
Webber has been a tremendous outside and middle hitter for the BEHS program and an All-State award should be coming her way any day now (if not already).
One of the leaders and team captains of this year’s squad, Webber has earned several awards from the AVCA over the season and in Central Connecticut Conference Tournament play last week, she was easily the uncrowned MVP at the completion of competition.
Webber tallied 35 kills against Simsbury in the championship match on Saturday, added 27 more in semifinal play versus Glastonbury, while jetting in 43 big ones over a five-set confrontation with Conard in West Hartford.
Adding the 24 kills she notched against Plainville to open CCC Tournament play, Webber crammed down an amazing 129 over the postseason alone as Eastern went undefeated (4-0) in a grueling week of action against some of Connecticut’s top programs.
And with 22 kills to her name this past Monday, you can be sure that Webber isn’t through dropping down loud swings on opponents in Class L tournament play as the season continues for her and the Eastern program.
