Throughout her career, it has never been a matter of if Metea Valley’s Addison Torain is going to be on the court. It has always been a matter of where she would be on the court.
As a sophomore, she moved to outside hitter in the wake of an injury to superstar Kira Hutson. Torain went back last year to libero, her natural position, with Camille Morrison on the outside.
With Morrison having graduated, coach Dave MacDonald approached Torain with another move this season — back to outside hitter. And as usual, Torain went where her team needed her.
“I think I just love the game so much that it doesn’t matter,” Torain said. “As long as I’m on the court and with the people I love, it doesn’t matter where I am as long as I can help the team.”
The 5-foot-7 Torain ended up playing a key role Wednesday night with five kills for the host Mustangs in a 25-16, 25-18 nonconference victory over Yorkville in Aurora.
Kelly McGrath led Metea Valley (10-3) with nine kills. Camryn Carter paced Yorkville (4-6) with five kills, while Anna McCabe added 12 digs.
MacDonald can’t recall another player like Torain in program history.
“She’s such an amazing athlete, just all over the place,” MacDonald said. “We had talks in the spring and over the summer that this may be a possibility, and she took it on.
“She was like, ‘Yeah, I love it.’”
Part of the Winthrop recruit’s willingness to continually switch roles is MacDonald’s confidence in her. She knows she’ll be back at libero in college, but for now, she enjoys playing on the outside.
“I think the biggest thing that made it easier was just having ‘Mac’ come up to me and tell me that he trusts me in any position,” Torain said. “The only reason he feels he can switch me is because I’ve proven myself and he sees what I can do.”
Torain, who teams with libero Ava Guzaski to form a strong defensive back row, made her impact felt as the Mustangs cruised Wednesday in the first game.
But Yorkville, playing without senior outside hitter Charlee Young, who was on a college visit, kept things tight in the second game.
The Foxes cut the deficit to 18-16 before the Mustangs pulled away for the win.
“We were a significantly better team in the second game,” Yorkville coach Ryan Donato said. “We just threw a totally different lineup out there, trying to see some sort of production out of some of our bench kids.”
Torain said Winthrop’s coaches are not only supportive of her move to the outside but she has sent videos of her hitting to the coaches.
“They joke, ‘Maybe we need another outside in your class,’” Torain said.
She knew from a young age, though, that libero was her likely future. And she prepared as such.
“My parents have always told me that I probably wasn’t going to grow,” Torain said.
She also said she’s gaining valuable knowledge playing so many positions.
“It helps you understand where the other team is going to go and what they want to do,” Torain said. “So that makes you a better defender and a better hitter, just being on both sides.”
Torain’s focus, for now, is on this team. After winning the Class 4A state title during Torain’s freshman year, the Mustangs have stalled in the sectional semifinals the past two seasons.
She’s aiming for that to change.
“I think I just want to do it for ‘Mac’ and all these people who have built this program and for my team because it’s always been our goal,” Torain said. “We want to figure out how to get past the sectional semifinals and have a chance to go for a state title.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
