Two sisters give people some good reasons to flock to the Finn Activity Center at Holy Cross High School this fall and winter.
They are 17-year old senior Maya Hunt and 16-year old junior Julia Hunt.
Julia Hunt excels in volleyball and basketball. Standing at 6-feet-2-inches, Julia Hunt has offers to play basketball at the NCAA Division I level at Western Kentucky University, the State University of New York at Buffalo of the Mid-American Conference, and Xavier University. Julia Hunt plays center on the basketball team and is middle blocker and back row player for the volleyball team.
“The work I’ve put in is not enough yet,” Julia Hunt said. “I have to keep going and keep going to get more.”
Maya Hunt played both sports until last year when she decided to focus on volleyball. The setter is verbally committed to play at Division I Marshall University.
They have their mother’s genes. Jill Bornhorn-Hunt is a 1995 Notre Dame alum and was a senior on the 1994 state championship Pandas volleyball team. But most of the family went to Holy Cross.
“I taught there for 15 years as well. Obviously, Holy Cross has a very special place in my heart. I love everything about it because I feel like it teaches all the right things,” Jill Hunt said. “We don’t always have all the strongest athletes in the area. But we’re always fighting for championships. I just think the kids that are there are willing to work hard. It’s just a family atmosphere. You feel like you’re a part of something bigger than yourself. Obviously as a mom, it’s nice to be able to be involved in my kids’ stuff. I would be okay not coaching them because other people could influence their training as well. But it’s fun for me to be there watching them work hard and get better day in and day out to achieve some goals they want.”
Julia Hunt recently trained with USA Volleyball in Chicago. She worked with 40 kids across the country. Jill Hunt said the sisters are both students of the game.
“I learned a lot of stuff there because it’s obviously a lot higher competition,” Julia Hunt said. “I’ve learned higher skills like how to run slides faster, how to run gaps quicker.”
Jill is head coach of the Indians volleyball team. Holy Cross has gone 86-46 the last four seasons qualifying for the 9th Region Tournament each season. The Indians have lost to last year’s state champion St. Henry in the region quarterfinals in three of those seasons. But Holy Cross advanced to the region semifinals in 2020 before losing to Ryle.
Jill Hunt is aware of certain perceptions people have when parents coach their kids. One is the parent can be tougher on the children in attempt to not show favoritism. But Jill Hunt said every player is different.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m harder on them, especially trying to prove a point. I think our volleyball team has a lot of levels of experience,” Jill Hunt said. “Some play club ball. Some don’t play club ball at all. As a coach, it can be challenging to make sure you’re addressing all the kids the right way. Some can handle the up-front criticism. Some of them need a little bit more love based on their experience and personality. I may not be tougher on them because they are my kids. But I may be tougher on them because I know they can handle it.”
The sisters had many career-highs this past season. Maya Hunt had 738 assists, 127 kills, 241 digs and 54 aces. Maya Hunt has 1,755 assists, 262 kills, 527 digs and 215 aces these past three seasons.
“Setting is arguably one of the hardest positions,” Maya Hunt said. “But it’s really nice to know that I have passers that will give me the passes I need. No matter where I throw it on the court at all, Julia will hit it. My other hitters are always there too. It’s good to have a great team surrounding me that always backs me up no matter what.”
But Maya Hunt said she can rely on her sister to put down a lot of her sets. Julia Hunt had 579 kills, 145 blocks including 93 solo, 255 digs and 86 aces last year.
“I like playing with Julia because of her competitive nature whether it’s just a practice, an open gym or game,” Maya Hunt said. “She’s always striving to make herself and everyone around her better by improving her skills and everyone else’s on the floor. She’s always vocal and is a really great leader, and she’s funny. Being out there on the court, she always says a bunch of silly things that makes everyone laugh. It just puts everybody in a good mood.”
In the past three seasons, Julia Hunt has 1,089 kills, 345 blocks including 258 solo, 424 digs and 146 aces. But the sisters know the supporting cast needs to improve for the team to go deeper into the postseason.
Notre Dame has formed a wall in not only the 35th District but the 9th Region with St. Henry. The Pandas won their ninth state championship in 2020.
“They’re very hard-working. Everyone is always pushing to be better because we all want to win,” Maya Hunt said. “Everyone has that good, winning mentality. We like to try to push and help. They’re always on board with that. They’re on the train ready to win.”
The sisters said they have ways to spread the word about the volleyball team. The are aware the 900 capacity Finn Activity Center can be a huge home advantage when more people are there.
“Once we go into games, we get on the announcements that we have here and we’re like, ‘Hey, you guys should come to the game,” Julia Hunt said. “We’re working really hard and we’re going to win this. Once we start winning more and more games, they’re all going to come. It’s going to be like a ripple effect.”
Julia Hunt has emerged as one of the top post presences in the 9th Region these past two years. She’s seen action on varsity starting in the seventh grade. She scored 528 points and grabbed 360 rebounds for averages of 16 points and just under 11 rebounds per game last year.
“Obviously, she’s the foundation of what we do. We’ve got the pieces to build around. We’ve got shooters,” said Ted Arlinghaus, Holy Cross Head Coach. “We’ve got guards that can actually penetrate so it should help us spread the floor. It gives her room to work and if you want to then double and triple-team her then we kick out to other people. That’s kind of the way we played this year. In hindsight, we didn’t shoot the ball as well as I thought we could have. But I look for us to improve on that and I think we’re pretty capable.”
Holy Cross made 685 of 1,759 shots for just under 39 percent including 190 of 718 from three-point range for 27 percent. The Indians made 276 of 461 free throws for just under 60 percent.
Holy Cross finished 19-14 last year losing 59-46 to Cooper in the 9th Region quarterfinals after losing 47-40 to Notre Dame in the 35th District championship game at Beechwood. The Indians graduated one senior in forward Hanna Robinson. But Holy Cross does return junior guards Elizabeth McCoy and Aleah Arlinghaus. They averaged seven and 6.5 points per game respectively. McCoy made 43 triples last year.
“It’s a nice luxury to have on our side because she can impact the game without touching the ball. This last year, she averaged over five blocked shots a game, which is just unheard of,” Ted Arlinghaus said. “That doesn’t even count for all of the shots that she alters or just the number of times girls penetrate in and decide, ‘Nope. I’m not going in there.’ and they kick the ball out. So to have a rim protector, you just don’t see that on the girls side like you do on the boys side.”
Ted Arlinghaus noted the Indians play a full-court press. Opponents have the challenge of scoring over Julia Hunt if they break the press.
“It means a lot, especially when my team is in tough situations,” Julia Hunt said. “If the guards are faster than them and they get by them with no help, it’s good to know that they trust me in that position.”
Julia Hunt does not need to be told about the importance of improving in the summer with the return of a number of solid posts in the 9th Region. That includes Highlands sophomore 6-2 center Marissa Green and Ryle junior 6-2 center Sarah Baker.
“I’m just going to try to get in the gym and lift more because Marissa Green has longer arms,” Julia Hunt said. “(Cooper senior forward) Whitney Lind is also longer than me. But if I get stronger, I can hold my own and push (other posts) off the block.”
Julia Hunt said she’s working on her outside shooting to expand her abilities. She’s usually the tallest player on the court.
“Teddy (Arlinghaus) always says if you’re open, shoot it,” Julia Hunt said. “If our shooting gets better, then we’ll have more knockdown threes and then the posts and inside will be open for us more to drive and get lay-ups.”
Holy Cross owns a state championship in 2015. But the Indians have not won a district title since 2017. Notre Dame has won the title the last four years.
The sisters mentioned the challenges of balancing their academic, athletic and social lives. Maya Hunt has been taking some Advanced Placement, college and dual credit classes.
“I just do it whenever I can because I have volleyball three days a week and I’m training and lifting the other three days with one day off,” Maya Hunt said. “It hasn’t really been that bad to try to balance because I have some time after school and after practice.”
Julia Hunt said she has all A’s with one B in her classes. She understands the importance of time management.
“Usually before practice or after practice depending on what time it is, I’ll try to do my homework,” Julia Hunt said. “Sometimes if we have two practices, I’ll try to do my homework in the car depending on how much work I have.”
The fall tryouts usually begin around July 15. The first game for Holy Cross volleyball listed on the schedule is Aug. 23 at home against Cooper.