Andrea Hudson has been coaching college volleyball for 17 years and she admits it has been a long time since she has signed a setter that compares to Gretchen Higdon from Ooltewah High School. Hudson was all smiles as the All-State player inked the scholarship papers on Monday.

“Gretchen is the second player we have signed from Ooltewah and she’s also the second setter we have recruited,” said Hudson. “It has been a while since I’ve signed a setter that compares to her. She shows no emotion. Nothing seems to shake her and she is the take-control type of player.”

Hudson also noted that Higdon was a member of a team that was runner-up in the (TSSAA) state tournament this past fall and was a key player as the Lady Owls’ setter. “I have watched Gretchen play for the last three years in high school and during summer club ball, added the coach, “and she is a very dynamic setter; knowing exactly how to deliver the ball to the right players at the right time. I am really glad that she selected Lee.”

Ooltewah coach Elaine Peigen shared some of the same thoughts. “She has been a leader on and off the court for the past two years. We’ve enjoyed a lot of success. Gretchen is a perfect example of a student athlete; a homecoming queen, who is very well liked and respected by her teammates.”

Said Lee’s latest recruit, “I attend church at Christway Community Church in Ooltewah, and I have a wonderful family and an awesome circle of friends. I am very blessed.”

Higdon was the Chattanooga Times/Free Press Best of Preps Volleyball Player of the Year in 2008. She was an all-district and all-region setter for the past two years and was a member of the TSSAA AAA All-State Tournament team.

The 5-foot-6 setter helped the Lady Owls post an impressive 59-11 record this past season. She has been selected by the Tennessee Coaches Association to play in the 2008 Tennessee All-Star Volleyball Tournament for the AAA East team.

During the high school volleyball off-season, Higdon plays club ball for the Choo-Choo City Volleyball team. “I have enjoyed my four years at Ooltewah High School,” she stressed. “I have been involved in various activities and clubs including FCA, FBLA, BETA and the National Honor Society.” Higdon is already working on coaching skills. She helps Peigen with the Ooltewah Middle School volleyball team.  

Higdon joined her teammates in coming to Lee this past November and participating in the university’s “Volley for the Cure” in honor of their high school coach, (Elaine Peigen), who is a breast cancer survivor. “I was blessed to be named as a scholarship recipient of this event,” she pointed out.

“In trying to decide where I wanted to continue my education, there were several things to consider,” she added. “I really wanted to continue playing volleyball and I wanted to go somewhere where I could receive a good education, and yet I didn’t want to go to far from home. After narrowing it down to Carson-Newman, Shorter and Lee, I realized Lee had everything I needed and wanted.”

Higdon is undecided on a major at Lee. “At this point I really do not know what I will major in,” she admitted. “I have a lot of different interests and just want to do the best I can in whatever life brings to me.”