Neal: How outgrowing gymnastics, literally, led Julia Hanson to the volleyball court with the Gophers

Before becoming the fulcrum of the Gophers volleyball team, Julia Hanson loved gymnastics.

Hanson spent hours in the gym working on routines. And her leaping ability was exceptional. Especially when she attacked the vault.

“She stood out because she could jump so much higher than everybody else,” said Dan Hanson, Julia’s father. “So that’s what really grabbed the attention, you know, of all these college coaches. Her core was so strong, and she was really good on the (vault).”

There was a problem, however.

The Hanson family, on both the mother’s and father’s sides, didn’t raise many shrimps. Her brother, Nick Hanson, is 6-foot-5.

You might remember him as the Nick Hanson who was the 2016 Star Tribune’s All-Metro baseball player of the year with a mid-90s fastball who was selected by the Reds in the third round that year.

Because of the Hanson family genes, Julia was growing, too. Too tall to remain a gymnast.

“And that’s basically how I started volleyball in, like, the sixth, seventh grade.”

She joined the Northern Lights Volleyball Club in Burnsville. Her jumping ability helped her get high in the air. But she didn’t know where the ball was going when she made contact. She had to learn how to hit the ball down.

“I would hit it like 45 feet out of bounds,” she said.

Dan Hanson: “Yeah, she put a couple dents in the back wall at Northern Lights.”

Pops Hanson has a son who once touched 99 miles an hour as a professional before two Tommy John surgeries derailed his career. So he told his daughter that she had to get her arm going as fast.

“So, she really worked at it,” Dan Hanson said. “Worked hard, and it really paid off for her. And she’s still having fun. That’s the main thing.”

How well did it pay off? By her freshman year at Prior Lake High School, Gophers coaching legend Hugh McCutcheon offered her a scholarship. Hanson accepted and never looked back.

She showed her potential as a sophomore at the U, coming off the bench for a career-high 19 kills in a big late-season win at Indiana. When former Big Ten player of the year Taylor Landfair transferred to Nebraska, Gophers coach Keegan Clark challenged Hanson to seize the moment as a junior. She responded by leading the team in points and kills per set while earning first-team All-Big Ten honors.

“We put her in some tough situations,” Cook said. “I told her at one point, ‘Hey, once we get to fall, I can’t protect you. You’re gonna be out there. And so there’s some things that you need to be able to do.’ And to her credit, she’s one of the most coachable athletes that I’ve had here in my time.”

The 6-foot-1 Hanson was named to the preseason All-Big Ten team and landed on the AVCA preseason player of the year watch list. So far, the Gophers are 3-1 as they travel to Nashville this weekend to play Vanderbilt on Friday and Lipscomb on Saturday.

And Hanson has become a leader on a team that was picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten. Fourth is not shabby in the very Big Ten, where Landfair’s Cornhuskers are ranked No. 1 in the nation, Penn State is No. 5 and Wisconsin is No. 8.

“She’s just a great competitor,” said opposite hitter Lauren Crowl, one of Hanson’s roommates. “She pushes our team competitively in the gym, and she’s a great leader. She might not be the most vocal leader, but she leads by example, which is something I find super cool.”

The last time she was measured, Hanson had a vertical leap of 36 inches. The combination of hops and a big arm makes her a menace on the court. But she’s become more dynamic, working on her receiving and other areas of the game.