Hurst a double threat in two sports: volleyball and basketball

This archived article was written by: Carly Dalton

Playing outside and right side hitter on the volleyball team, plus point guard on the Lady Eagle basketball team, make Shania Hurst a double threat.
She comes from an athletic background playing volleyball, basketball along with running track in high school.
While practicing both sports she says, “It’s fun and it works well because the practices are right next to each other so they don’t get in my schedule’s way.”
Hurst says the hardest thing about transferring from one sport to the other is, “I go from volleyball practice to basketball practice so I am tired and can’t run as fast,” but still works hard and leaves it all on the court.
The hardest thing about volleyball is, “the mental aspect of it, if you make one mistake, you get so far in your head.”
The most spectacular play she has ever made in a volleyball game was competing in a co-ed game. A player on the opposing side slammed it down. One of her teammates barely got a touch on it but it shot to the back of the gym, the team rushed to save the ball. A kid on her team ran and kicked it up. Hurst with the save, forcefully bumped it over the net and the other team rendered completely oblivious and let it drop in deep in their court.
Her greatest accomplishment as an athlete is taking state in volleyball her senior year at Hurricane High School. That is where she got to see all the hard work and dedication of her team come together.
She is working on her generals, and wants to get into a nursing program within the next five years, the reason being she said, “I have just always been interested in that kind of stuff.”
The worst injury she ever sustained was when she broke her wrist her freshman year during volleyball. She continued playing through the pain for two years, and didn’t do anything about it until her junior year and had to sit out the volleyball season.
Her most embarrassing athletic moment was during her freshman year. She was practicing in the gym and as the other freshmen walked through the doors, she made a mistake and swore out loud. She said, “all the other girls looked at me like I was the devil.”
Her favorite memory from her bus trips is called “iPod idol,” where you put headphones in and turn them all the way up, cover your face and sing as loud as possible. “There were some pretty bad singers on the team.”
Hurst’s passion and drive for the game endures because she “likes to compete and loves the adrenaline rush before a match.”
When it comes to life, her hero is Angela Shields, an athlete from Hurricane High School who is running track for Brigham Young University. She is an outstanding example to Hurst since she was a freshman. “[Shields] played the same position as me, in basketball and volleyball, and ran the same races as me in track. I have always looked up to her because she was amazing at it.”
Hurst’s biggest fan is her mom because, “She comes to literally everything I am in and supports me no matter what.”
In one word she would describe herself as happy. Hurst is a competitive and hardworking athlete and is excited to see how the year will play out with both sports.