Draft Prospect Profile: MB Julia Haggerty
Haggerty's defensive instincts have secured her a place in the Boston College record books.
Haggerty was one of the first who stood out to me when I was searching for players to fill out my initial draft prospects watchlist all the way back in March. Statistically, the Boston College middle is one of the best blockers in the nation, which is not an easy title for a 6-foot-2 player to hold.
Two of the school’s three best blocking seasons belong to Haggerty, and she’s on track for another impressive campaign. Only a month into the 2024 season, she already has 74 total blocks to her name, including 17 solo blocks. As of Monday, that placed her second in the nation behind just Raven Colvin in blocks per set. Haggerty is able to perform at that level because she is so mentally engaged with the game, both on an active and instinctual level.
“She's so good about picking up the things that matter to her. She's gonna be able to tell you ‘Hey, this middle is a crossbody attacker, so I want to dive this way on her.’ She's able to take the information that we give her, remember it, and then be able to apply it the next night, which I think has made her pretty effective,” said BC head coach Jason Kennedy.
“I just… blocking makes sense to me,” said Haggerty. “I think it’s half work and half being hyper aware of where everyone is and what everyone's trying to do.”
The way Haggerty sees it, there are benefits to both the analytical approach and trusting her gut. She told me a story from her sophomore year — she felt like she was drowning in all the technical details and was constantly worried about doing the wrong thing when an assistant coach on the Eagles’ staff told her to simplify things. “Just go block the ball,” he said, and narrowing her objective was exactly what the doctor ordered.
She’s matured as a player since then, and walked me through some of what’s going through her mind as a play unfolds on the other side of the net.
“Wherever that first pass goes, I'm shading to that side, wherever I think it's going. Then it's darting my eyes to the people, see wherever all the hitters are, see their line of approach. That's a big thing we work on in our gym: find your hitter. Like, you do not, you can not lose your hitter. There's no excuse for losing your hitter. So, I definitely kind of make that a big thing,” she said.
“Setters drive me crazy sometimes just because they're always trying to quite literally see where you're not and beat you to beat you to that spot,” continued Haggerty. “I just really try to focus on the hitters. I think that you can get lost when you're looking at the setter because they are, they can be so deceptive. I try to focus more on the, on the hitters. I don't give the setters that like satisfaction of kind of besting me or being able to deceive me in any way.”
“I want to leave this year with no regrets.”
Although she’s known for her defensive prowess, Haggerty is also an efficient attacker and only getting better. Coach Kennedy commented that he was encouraged by what he saw from his star middle on the offensive side of the ball as the Eagles ramped up for the season.
“I think it was a big emphasis for her in the spring to become more of an offensive threat out of the middle. Over the course of last year, we've really worked on on her arm swing and being able to get her the ball at different opportunities. It may be from eight, nine feet off net so that she's a little bit more of an option,” he said.
“I think I know what the blockers want me to do a little bit, especially in the middle,” explained Haggerty. “I try to just do the complete opposite and be a little bit tricky. I'll try to bait people. If I'm a one-on-one with the middle, I'll try to bait them and I'll try to get them to swing one way, and then I'd like to jump in front of it the last second. Understanding the defense has really helped me to work on my offense for sure.”
The Boston College coaching staff have also entrusted Haggerty with serving rotations, something not every middle in the nation can say. Kennedy praised her for improving her serve along side her offensive game over the course of the last year.
“I think the the ball is not coming off quite quite as fluffy as it was before. There's pop to it, you know, she hit a couple of balls [in practice] that made everybody stop and look around because she wasn't able to do that a year ago. I think that the arm speed, you know, that she's able to now generate some velocity on the ball,” he said.
As an unheralded recruit who hardly played her freshman year, it has been an unlikely road for Haggerty to get to where she is today. Now that she’s one of the alpha dogs in the ACC, she has a possibility of extending her career as a professional. The sales pitch for her includes, not just her excellent volleyball skills, but also the attitude that helped her get as far as she has.
“At the baseline, I love volleyball. I love playing. I enjoy practice thoroughly. I enjoy every 6 a.m. wake up. I think that is my foundation,” she said. “I felt like I was a little bit behind everybody else when I first got here, so I kind of just put my head down a little bit and decided like, if I wanted to make this happen, it's going to be up to me. And so that's what I did.”
As an undersized player whose value rests on being able to beat opponents above the net, I understand why some PVF teams might be a bit hesitant to pull the trigger on investing in her. What I can’t see is a world where Haggerty is totally passed over. She’s a great addition for the locker room and — at minimum — a high floor injury reserve who won’t make the coach look foolish. She’s eager to learn and has an affinity for the sport.
“You know, she doesn't have the 6-foot-6, but I don't think she needs it,” reflected coach Kennedy. “She's a thinker. She's a very, very good student. She is always one step ahead. She's dynamic enough that she can get her hands in the right places for sure.”
Some quotes were lightly edited for clarity. To watch full Boston College games, click here and here.