St. James’ Forst picked for Evelyn Gates Award
Hanna Forst swears she didn’t see it coming. A huge school assembly held in St. James’ gym didn’t tip her off. Neither did the fact that her coach, Nancy Dorsey, had told the volleyball team to dress up for it.
But by the time 11 a.m. rolled around on Thursday, the mystery was over for Forst, St. James’ senior left-side hitter. The Evelyn Gates Award, honoring the top volleyball player in the Kansas City area, was hers.
And the trophy, on a table in the gym and shrouded by a black cloth for most of the assembly, now bears a plaque with her name on it.
“We get down here, and there are cameras, and everyone is like ‘What is going on?’ ” Forst said of her teammates’ reactions. “We had no idea, at all. And I had no idea, either.”
Dorsey said afterward that it was a perfect example of Forst’s character.
“She’s such a humble person. She wouldn’t even put all the pieces together and say ‘Yeah, this is about me,’ ” Dorsey said. “It speaks to what a great kid she is.”
On the court, Forst, who stands 5 feet 11, was even better. She led St. James in kills (475) and racked up 255 digs and 60 total blocks while leading the Thunder to a 44-1 record and its third consecutive Kansas 4A state team title.
“She can do everything,” Dorsey said. “She can set, she can hit, she can serve, she can pass. … Her versatility and intensity and joy and passion for the game made her infectious to other people.”
Perhaps the best indicator of the kind of season Forst had is the fact the coaches chose her over three other finalists who had strong resumes of their own:
•O’Hara middle hitter Tori Hurtt, who finished the season with 436 kills and led the Celtics to their fourth consecutive Missouri Class 3 state title.
•St. Thomas Aquinas middle blocker Lauren Ford, who had 339 kills and led her team to a second-place finish in Kansas 5A.
•Winnetonka outside hitter Shelby Corkill, who finished her career with 1,339 kills and 162 aces.
All were in attendance Thursday and were politely applauded for their accomplishments by the St. James students. But the day’s celebrity was Forst, who capped her career by winning the biggest honor out there for local high school volleyball players.
“I have been the luckiest girl in the world,” said Forst, who has signed a scholarship to play at South Carolina. “To win this, and to have the success in high school that I did and to have these amazing girls as my teammates … it’s incredible.”
submitted by - 2010-11-11 23:46:05
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