Autumn Finney is having an eventful senior year. Over the summer, she transferred from Krum High School to nearby Decatur High School.
This past Friday, Finney and her current Decatur team played her former Krum team. In an emotional matchup for obvious reasons, the third set was coming to an end when an unbelievable string of plays happened.
A series of volleys transpired when all of a sudden Decatur was in danger of losing the point. That's when Finney jumped in -- literally. The ball was going out from the Decatur back row when Finney reacted. Running from her front-row position, she darted across the court, leaped over a teammate, jumped and contorted her body while simultaneously hitting the ball with enough power to send the it 30 feet in the other direction across the net.
From there, Krum players hit the ball back to Decatur's side where Finney's teammates took care of the rest with a block for a well-earned point.
How did she do that?
Short answer: she runs track! Finney performed well over past seasons for the Krum track team where she competed in the long jump and the shot put. How else could one leap over people, jump, and powerfully hit the ball in the complete opposite direction? Finney combined the skills that she honed for the Krum track team for her current Decatur Volleyball team against her former Krum volleball team.
The play was so impressive, Finney caught the attention of three-time beach volleyball world champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings. Jennings was so impressed that she tweeted several times.
There's no denying it: that was a great play by both Finney and Decatur.
