Former University of Alabama All-American Kat Hutson has retired from the sport, citing ongoing injuries.
The 6’3″ outside hitter from Brentwood, Tennessee played for 3 seasons for Alabama and was recruited out of Ravenswood High School as a high school All-American and matched that honor in her first two years with the Crimson Tide – earning AVCA Honorable Mention in both her freshman and sophomore seasons.
As a junior, Hutson played in only 10 games and 42 sets for Alabama, though she still recorded 106 kills and a .225 hitting percentage in those games. Her last action for the Crimson Tide was in a 3-0 win over Lehigh on September 10th, where she had 10 kills and hit .562 for her 6th, and final, double-digit game of the season.
As a both a freshman and a sophomore, she averaged 3.7 kills/set (.272 and .269 average, respectively) though she was slightly below that pace early in her junior year. After she went down, Alabama leaned even more heavily on their All-American Krystal Rivers, who had a monstrous offensive season with 705 kills – or 5.8/set – which ranked her 2nd nationally on the season.
Hutson announced her retirement late last season in a Facebook post, saying “Couldn’t be more grateful for everything this sport has done for me and all the doors and opportunities it has opened. Volleyball was my first love and I can’t imagine my life without it, but sometimes injuries happen and life has to go on. Thank you, volleyball, for giving me lifelong friends, a purpose, and pure happiness for all these years. I love my team more than anything and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for them”
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