Rapid ascension

Paige Shaw was not pegged for stardom at an early age, but things have changed rapidly over the last few years.

As a ninth-grader, Shaw only made the freshman volleyball team at Hoover High School. Most freshman team members struggle to ever become significant contributors on the varsity squad by the time their high school careers conclude.

But Shaw battled against that trend and blew it away with authority.

By her sophomore year, she left coach Chris Camper with one thought about not having her on the varsity team her freshman year: “What were we thinking?”

“Her club year after her freshman year, when she came back for her sophomore year, she was a different person,” Camper said.

Today, Shaw — now a senior — is Hoover’s unquestioned leader on the floor, a dynamic outside hitter that has established herself as one of the most dominant players in the state of Alabama.

Shaw began playing volleyball in the seventh grade, but it took her a few years to feel comfortable with the game and find her strength on the outside.

“Practicing a lot and club [volleyball] really helped with technique and stuff and just getting the basics down first and being able to build off of that,” Shaw said of her improvement.

Shaw improved so rapidly that colleges quickly became interested in recruiting her. With several schools showing interest, Shaw ultimately decided that the University of Memphis was the right fit.

“I went to go visit and I fell in love with the campus and the coaches,” Shaw said. “I came on a second visit, where I actually got to meet the team and watch them play, and I just really got along with all of them.”

Camper counts Memphis as lucky to have her. Throughout the recruiting process, the aspect of Shaw’s game that impressed college coaches the most was her potential, still relatively untapped in the eyes of many.

The thought of Shaw getting better than she already is should scare opponents — both at Hoover and in the future at Memphis. 

“They feel like her upside is so much more because she’s just, in the last two years, been developed at an elite level,” Camper said. “Most freshmen show up and I know they’re going to be great one day. She came out of nowhere and exploded onto the scene.”

One thing that the 6-foot hitter admittedly will likely never be is the emotional leader of a team; she will not step on the court and be the “rah-rah person,” according to Camper.

“I’m an action girl,” Shaw said of her leadership style. “I just do it by action. I’m not that vocal, but I’m trying to work on that. I think if [teammates] see you going hard and playing, then they follow.”

Shaw learned from some of the best. She remembers watching Ali Lowe, Kathryn Cather, Caroline Sanford and the rest of the Bucs’ varsity team make it to the state final in 2014. That state tournament run made Shaw hungry to improve and to become as good as the ones ahead of her. 

She took that motivation into that club season and began to show signs of the player she’s now become.

“I know when I went to the finals and we had that group, watching them and how they performed, catching onto them and how they did things,” Shaw said.

Last fall, Shaw helped lead the Bucs back to the state final. On a team loaded with hitters like Kyra Hunter, Nora Webster and Maya Jones, Hoover reached the Class 7A final once again. For the second time in three years, the Bucs lost to Mountain Brook in that final, but the experience for the returning players can only help this fall.

Shaw said, “I think it’s good that some of the girls got that experience and so I think that’ll help. We won’t freak out if we get there again, so that’ll be good.”

One of the biggest changes this season is how opposing teams treat Shaw. The depth of quality hitters last fall ensured that teams could not take away one or two hitters at a time, because the Bucs had the ability to inflict damage from anywhere on the court. 

Leading into this year, Shaw was the only proven commodity on the outside for Hoover, meaning teams most certainly would key in on stopping her.

“Last year, you couldn’t take your middle and go put her on Paige, because Kyra [Hunter] would destroy you,” Camper said. “She’s going to almost always hit against a double block, and sometimes a triple block. They couldn’t do that last year.”

Even with that likelihood, Camper said he has no plans to change the way his team will play. He said that the players value winning above all else and realize the value of putting the ball on the right arm of Shaw as often as the opportunity presents itself.

Shaw’s ascension as a hitter has coincided with her efforts to become a solid all-around player as well. She plays all six rotations for the Bucs, and has worked to improve her passing throughout the past few seasons.

“They trusted me to work on my game and they didn’t just give up on me because I shanked a bunch of passes,” Shaw said.

Shaw claims that she is now a “decent” passer, but she’s far more than that on the outside. She hopes that her final kill as a high schooler will come as part of a state championship effort.

“I’ve got to go out good,” she said. “It’s the last chance to get a ring.”