Destinee Hooker

Destinee Dante Hooker (born September 7, 1987) is an American indoor volleyball player. She is a 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) opposite attacker. Hooker was a member of the United States women's national volleyball team. She starred in both volleyball and track and field at the University of Texas.

Destinee Hooker
Personal information
Full name	Destinee Dante Hooker
Nationality	American
Born	September 7, 1987 Frankfurt, Germany
Hometown	San Antonio, Texas, United States
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Volleyball information
Position	Opposite
Current club	Tianjin Bohai Bank
Career
Years Teams 2006–2009 2010 2010 2010–2011 2011–2012 2012–2013 2014 2014–2015 2016 2016–2018 2018–2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 University of Texas GS Caltex Seoul KIXX Pinkin de Corozal Scavolini Pesaro Osasco Voleibol Clube Dinamo Krasnodar Criollas de Caguas Hwaseong IBK Altos Tianjin Bridgestone Camponesa Minas Osasco Voleibol Clube Tianjin Bohai Bank Tianjin Bohai Bank
National team
2008–2012  United States
Medal record Women's volleyball Representing the  United States Olympic Games 2012 London Team FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup 2011 Japan Team FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix 2010 Ningbo Team 2011 Macau Team NORCECA Championship 2011 Caguas

Career

High school

Hooker attended Southwest High School in Texas, where she was a standout athlete in basketball, track and field, and volleyball. As a junior and senior, she was an all-state volleyball outside hitter. She was also the 2004 and 2005 Texas state champion in the high jump.[1]

College

Hooker played on the University of Texas volleyball team from 2006 to 2009. In 2007, she was named to the AVCA All-American second team. She was then named to the first team in both 2008 and 2009. In 2009, she was the Big 12 Player of the Year and the NCAA Division I volleyball championship's Most Outstanding Player, as Texas lost to Penn State in the finals.[1] While at Texas, Hooker was named as one of the four finalists for the Honda Sports Award in volleyball for both the 2008–09 season as well as the 2009–10 season.[2][3]

In track and field, Hooker won the NCAA outdoor high jump championship in 2006, 2007, and 2009. She also won the NCAA indoor high jump championship in 2009; her winning jump of 6' 6" (1.98 meters) broke the indoor collegiate record.[1][4] She won four NCAA high jump championships overall.[5]

International

Hooker joined the U.S. women's national volleyball team in January 2008. Her first official tournament with the team was the 2010 World Grand Prix, where she helped the U.S. win the gold medal by averaging 4.76 points and 2.46 digs. She was also fifth in scoring at that year's FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship.[1] In 2011, Hooker was named the Most Valuable Player of the FIVB World Grand Prix, as the Americans won the tournament again. She ranked second with 101 points scored during the Final Round. Hooker averaged 5.91 points and 5.13 kills in the FIVB World Cup to help the U.S. to the silver medal in that event. She was named the Best Spiker in the World Cup with a 49.53 kill percent and .419 hitting efficiency.[1]

Hooker played in the first six matches of the 2012 FIVB World Grand Prix, which the U.S. eventually won.[1] Hooker then won the silver medal with the U.S. in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She ranked second overall in scoring in that tournament and won the Best Spiker award.[6]

Personal

Hooker was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and resides in San Antonio, Texas. Her sister, Marshevet Hooker, is a track and field athlete who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics.[1]

Awards

Individual

• 2011 World Grand Prix "Most Valuable Player"
• 2011 World Cup "Best Spiker"
• 2012 Summer Olympics "Best Spiker"
• 2016/17 Brazilian Superliga "Best Spiker"

Club

• 2011–12 Superliga - Champion, with Sollys/Nestlé (Osasco)
• 2012–13 CEV Women's Challenge Cup - Champion, with Dinamo Krasnodar

College

• Two-time AVCA All-America first team (2008, 2009)
• 2007 AVCA All-America second team
• 2009 Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Division I championship
• 2008 NCAA Championship All-Tournament team
• 2008–09 Big 12 Conference Female Athlete of the Year
• 2008–09 Finalist for Honda Sports Award (volleyball)[7]
• 2009–10 Finalist for Honda Sports Award (volleyball)[7]
• 2009 Big 12 Player of the Year

[1][4]

References

1. "Destinee Hooker". teamusa.org. July 1, 2012. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
2. "Hooker named Volleyball Honda Award nominee". University of Texas Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
3. "Volleyball: 2009 in review". University of Texas Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
4. "Destinee Hooker" Archived 2011-10-30 at the Wayback Machine. texassports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
5. Miller, Ann. "UH plays training partner Arizona". the.honoluluadvertiser.com. March 17, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
6. "Brazil stuns US for gold in women's volleyball". sports.espn.go.com. August 11, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
7. "Volleyball". CWSA. Retrieved 2020-04-12.