Texas State volleyball welcomed transfer redshirt sophomore outside hitter, Nina Moorer, to the team in the spring. After overcoming her stress fracture injury, the team now anticipates her return to the court.
Moorer spent two seasons with the University of Louisville, where she redshirted as a freshman and sidelined most of the 2023 season due to a stress fracture injury.
According to Moorer, recovery from the injury is going smoothly with a one-day-at-a-time mindset.
“[I’m] just resting and [rehabbing] a lot, but hopefully this will be the end of it,” Moorer said. “[I’m] just getting over these last bumps and finishing out treatment and getting back into it. But so far, everything has been pretty steady.”
After spending the spring semester with the Bobcats, Moorer enters the fall season with playing eligibility and better health.
“She’s been battled with some injuries, and so I don’t think we’ve seen her best just yet,” Head Coach Sean Huiet said. “But the thing that Nina fits into our program is her as a person. She just takes care of business.”
Due to frequent moving throughout her childhood, Moorer bounced around various club teams, including the Houston Skyline where she played alongside Texas State junior middle blocker Bailey Hanner. Now, years later, the two reunite on the hardwood as college teammates.
“It’s literally the exact same as when [Hanner and I] played together in club [sports]. We started playing together our 17th year, and I just moved to Houston from Florida,” Moorer said. “She was one of my best friends on the team.”
Moorer’s connection with Hanner provided Texas State’s coaches with an awareness of her in the transfer portal and played a factor in her ultimately choosing to become a Bobcat.
“[Moorer] committed to Louisville early, so we didn’t actually do a lot of the recruiting process early with her,” Huiet said. “She played club with Bailey, so we’ve known her for a long time. It just kind of all fell into place for us with Nina.”
After joining, Moorer has become known among the team as a player with strength, determination and a positive energy regardless of the injuries she worked through.
“Nina is a breath of fresh air–– she just adds some spice to the team,” fifth-year senior setter Ryann Torres said. “I know she’s been overcoming a lot with her stress fractures [and] I think how hard she works in the gym is really inspiring.”
Moorer first experienced issues with a stress fracture injury in the spring 2023 season at Louisville. Now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with recovery, Moorer is expected to provide extended offensive value for the roster.
“We needed to get some depth at the outside hitter position, so naturally she fit into that,” Huiet said. “She has the potential to score a lot of points for us. She can play either outside or right side [hitter], so that helps with our depth on this team.”
By getting involved in spring practices, fall camp and the maroon and gold scrimmage, Moorer left an impact on coaches and teammates with promise of future potential.
“I think she’s a really good attacker on the right side; she has a good hand with different angles, so I think it could be really interesting for the team during the game,” junior middle blocker Jade Defraeye said.
Moorer said she capitalized on finding chemistry with teammates on and off the court throughout her times of recovery and rehab.
“Two people that come to mind are Ryann [Torres] and [Samantha Wunsch],” Moorer said. “They are constantly talking to me; just giving me feedback and really helping me figure out the new systems. They’re just doing a great job of really over-communicating everything and just giving me that extra boost.”
With less than a month until conference play begins, Moorer continues preparations through practices and training while keeping a close eye on maintaining her injury recovery.
“Right now, my main priority is staying healthy and just figuring out what role I have on the team here and trying to execute that as best as I can,” Moorer said.
