Aug. 22—ST. JOSEPH — Hadley McDonald bounces the volleyball three times in front of her and then spins it twice.
McDonald cradles the ball with her right hand and left elbow while standing on the end line inside the St. Joseph-Ogden High School gymnasium on Tuesday evening. The SJ-O volleyball practice on this day is nearly done, a two-hour session where the Spartans are simulating late-game, pressure-packed moments. This particular sequence started with the score tied at 20.
McDonald throws the ball in the air just above her head, moves her right arm back and unleashes a low, line-drive serve. The serve starts its descent in the middle of the court, just out of the reach of one of her teammates on the other side of the net who makes a dive forward for the ball.
Ace.
A few other plays in this situation sees McDonald diving in the back row to keep the ball in play and then rolling back to her feet. She makes a few swing attempts near the net, displaying some hard shots and deft touches to put the volleyball where she wants.
Practice ends. The Spartans gather as a group near the middle of the court, talk briefly and then disperse, their minds preparing for the season ahead that starts when Maroa-Forsyth visits for a 7 p.m. nonconference match on Monday.
A season where the Spartans will count on McDonald to make all those plays she just displayed in the last minutes of a mid-August practice. Plays that stand out even more since McDonald does all of this without a left hand.
'It's part of my life'
Addi Stevens has known McDonald since first grade. The two instantly clicked. Both their mothers are teachers. Both Stevens and McDonald love sports. A natural friendship blossomed and continues to this day as both SJ-O seniors get ready to start their final season playing volleyball with the Spartans.
"We are so excited," Stevens said. "We've been waiting for our senior year since forever."
Forever is how long McDonald has known about SJ-O volleyball. Because her mom, Abby, has coached the Spartans since the 2008 season. The elder McDonald enters her 19th season in charge of the program with a 445-135 record that includes two trips to the Class 2A state tournament, a state runner-up finish in 2016, a third-place finish in 2019 and nine regional championships.
Abby remembers taking Hadley to an SJ-O volleyball workout for the first time when Hadley was just a month old.
"The girls already knew she was going to be born with a limb difference," Abby said. "I just remember the positive influence I thought they could have on her life. They just responded with so much love and instant acceptance."
The trend and theme of this has followed 17-year-old Hadley for the duration of her growing up in St. Joseph. Her left arm stops at the elbow. But the physical difference Hadley has from her other SJ-O volleyball teammates doesn't define her. Hardly.
"I would say earlier, especially in grade school and middle school, it was always my biggest insecurity," Hadley said. "Thinking back now, I shouldn't have been insecure about it. All my classmates and friends have never really thought twice about it. In high school, I do get a little insecure about it sometimes, but my friends and my peers, they're like, 'Hadley, we forget you have one hand. Whatever.' There's nothing I can do about it, so there's no point in being insecure about it. It's part of my life."
A life that has featured two constants: volleyball and dance.
'It's my comfort place'
Hadley can't explain the feeling. Neither can Abby. But when Hadley is in the same SJ-O gym she plays volleyball in or another venue where she and her fellow dance team members get the chance to perform, she thrives in the moment.
"Dance was supposed to be a social thing," Abby said with a laugh, "and it just stuck."
Hadley started dancing when she was 2 years old and continues to this day, both with the SJ-O dance team and with Gallo Dance Studio in St. Joseph. She said she might even pursue this passion in college, and is considering either attending Illinois State University or the University of Illinois at the moment.
"I obviously love dance a lot, but I just don't know what it is about it, besides it's my comfort place," Hadley said. "I always know I can dance if I'm upset, happy or any other emotion."
Abby said getting the chance to watch Hadley dance is a completely different experience for her than coaching her in volleyball or watching her play volleyball through the years.
"That's a feeling that I will miss when that time comes to an end," Abby said. "She just dances outside of herself, and that's her place where she can be herself. It's a part of who she is, so watching her shine on stage and be confident in herself is a feeling I can't even really describe."
'Always in the stands'
Hadley knows how to describe the moment she first registered a kill for SJ-O volleyball in a varsity match. The Spartans were hosting St. Thomas More during the 2024 season, and Hadley came in as a sub off the bench.
"I remember slapping the ground because I was so excited," Hadley said. "I'd been waiting since fifth grade to have that moment."
Hadley started attending youth volleyball camps at SJ-O when she was 4 years old. Started playing the sport competitively in fifth grade. While attending hundreds of SJ-O volleyball matches and practices through the years.
She was in second grade in 2016 when two-time News-Gazette All-Area Player of the Year Kylie Michael helped the Spartans reach the state tournament for only the second time and come home with the program's first state trophy.
"Hadley was always in the stands at the games," Abby said. "She would get so nervous at times at such a young age where she would go out of the gym for a few minutes, say a prayer and come back in. The energy and the passion she plays with is something that she learned from those that came before her. Even at a young age, her and her brother would play with a balloon and a net in our living room, and she would cheer exactly how Kylie did. She would cry many years when those seniors would graduate because she's always held a special bond with the players before her."
'The only place I want to be'
Now, she is one of those seniors that young girls can look up to. The role reversal isn't lost on Hadley.
"This sport and this program has always been a constant in my life, so when it became my turn to play, it just felt like even more of my constant because that's the only place I'd wanted to be," Hadley said. "When I'm in the gym, it's the only place I want to be."
Her teammates feel the same way.
"As soon as she steps on the court, she locks in," Stevens said. "She doesn't care what the crowd is saying or anything like that. None of us see her as any different, and we'll always support her."
SJ-O volleyball is aiming for its first winning season since 2023 this season. The Spartans finished 13-21 in 2025, losing to rival Unity in a regional semifinal match. SJ-O went 16-19 in the 2024, losing to STM in a regional championship match.
Different from what Hadley watched growing up when the Spartans rattled off 12 straight seasons of at least 20 wins from 2008 to 2019 and seemingly earned IHSA hardware every fall.
What would it mean to Hadley to get the program back to those standards? Everything.
"We had good moments last season, but the team we have this year is a completely different team than we had last year," Hadley said. "We have such a strong bond already and such a hard work ethic. That's really going to take us to the next level."
Along with Hadley and Stevens, the Spartans will look for consistent contributions from players like Emerson Williams, Alivia Learned, Ava Alexander, Megan Kearney, Lyla Patton, Vivian Smith and Raegan Wheatley.
"This team has a lot of potential," Williams said.
'A constant support team'
The potential for what Hadley can accomplish this season with the Spartans and what she can accomplish in life once she graduates from SJ-O next spring will play itself out in the coming days, weeks and months.
She registered 226 digs, 114 kills and 24 aces last season, numbers she hopes to improve upon this year. While soaking up memories with her teammates and her mom one last time.
"It's weird to think those years have gone by already so quickly," Abby said. "She just waited forever to be in that uniform, and now, it's surreal to think that we've reached that final season."
Growing up in St. Joseph has had a positive experience on Hadley, both mom and daughter agree.
"I feel like I've always had a sense of security in this town," Hadley said. "No matter what I do, I feel like I always have a constant support team. In volleyball, I feel everybody knows me as the coach's daughter, but it's this feeling of everybody is there for you, too. It's not just something I feel. My friends say that as well because it's a sense of community and that everyone is family."
Abby is quick to credit Dick Duval, the former SJ-O football coach and athletic director who died on Aug. 26, 2021 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, for providing that feeling.
"Coach Duval used to send me articles, probably weekly, of other limb-difference athletes of what they were doing and told me to keep pushing because she could do it," Abby said. "That was something that I probably took for granted is that not everybody has that support. That is something I'll always be grateful for because that has not only made her successful here, but it will be once she leaves this community."
Hadley will go off to college next August. While she is still undecided on a possible major or career path, she does have a desire of wanting to help SJ-O volleyball in the future.
"My goal is to come back and coach with my mom for a little bit before she retires," Hadley said. "Hopefully be an assistant coach and hopefully raise my kids in this program like I was raised here."
Raised with a feeling of belonging.
Of acceptance.
Hadley McDonald isn't just a volleyball player with one hand.
She is so much more than that.
"Nobody sees Hadley for what she doesn't have," Abby said. "They see her for all that she is and all that she does."
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