Hooker attended Southwest High School in San Antonio, 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]
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