Height is usually a significant advantage in the game of volleyball, and coaches often look for it while talking to potential recruits. This is precisely what got Northridge’s Giulianna Hitchner into volleyball in the first place.
“I started in sixth grade. One of my teachers was the volleyball coach, Coach Mason, and she was like, ‘You’re tall. You need to start playing,’” Giulianna smiles. “So, I tried out for a little league, and then I tried out for my seventh-grade year because that’s when you can start here—and made that team. And I’ve just kept it up.”
Giulianna is a senior team captain and middle blocker for the Jaguar volleyball team under coach Danielle Stephenson. Stephenson says she is not surprised in Giulianna’s leadership.
“She’s a hard worker, disciplined, and a team player. She was voted team captain by her teammates, so she sets an example and guides all her other teammates. She makes coaching her easy,” Stephenson said.
Outside of school volleyball, Giulianna played on a national club team and has competed all over the United States. Last year, her team with NASA out of Hoover, Ala., won the JVA Bluegrass in Louisville, Kentucky—one of the biggest club volleyball tournaments in the country.
Giulianna’s leadership the classroom is noted as well. At Northridge, she holds a 4.1 weighted and a 3.9 unweighted grade point average. She says her favorite subject is English. Other school activities Guilianna is involved in are the Northridge Miracle Organization, National Hornor Society, Leo Club, National Spanish Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and National Science Honor Society. She says that Northridge Miracle Organization stands out as her favorite.
“Every year, we have an end-of-the-year fundraiser that we work towards donating. We always raise much money towards Children’s Hospital and the kids there, and we’ll visit them too,” Giulianna says.
With all her accomplishments in athletics, academics, and extracurricular activities, Giulianna undoubtedly makes her parents, Jennifer and Matthew Hitchner, proud.
After graduating in May 2025, she plans to attend The University of Alabama and major in communications, specifically sports media.
Giulianna’s height may have gotten her into the game, but she hopes to reach heights beyond anything she could have imagined once she concludes her time at Northridge. TG
Photos by Al Blanton. A special thanks to our sponsor, Sanders Aviation.
