Just a year shy of a decade ago, Hailey Bennett wore Philomath High’s colors and dominated Oregon West Conference volleyball.
A powerful hitter that went on to play at Oregon State from 2017-19, Bennett’s skills on the court were also felt at the Pac-12 level. In her final season with the Beavers, she earned all-conference honors.
Haylie Bennett heads to France to begin pro volleyball career
Haylie Bennett’s volleyball skills have definitely taken her places. Philomath fans will remember Bennett’s powerful presence in a Warriors uniform and she followed with an exceptional collegiate career at Oregon State. Now, the 22-year-old on Monday will embark on a new adventure in her young life as she takes those volleyball skills to Paris, France,…
Now age 26, she’s getting ready to embark on her fifth season playing professional volleyball in France.
“I’ve bounced around to some different teams,” Bennett said. “My first three seasons, I was on the same team in Paris. And then my last one, I was on a team out in eastern France. This upcoming season, I’ll be on a team in western France, so I’m kind of moving around a bit.”
Bennett said she’ll be headed to Europe in August to prepare for a season that begins in late September-early October.
“Then it’s not finished until, well, it’s a good eight- or nine-month season,” she said. “It’s long, it’s hard, but it’s fun, too.”
Back in high school, Bennett had a presence that hardcore Warriors fans will never forget. During her 2015 senior season, she was named the Oregon West’s Most Valuable Player while leading Philomath to a 17-6 record and a state playoff berth. She averaged nearly 19 kills per match and had an exceptional attack percentage of 53%.
Bennett, the daughter of Philomath residents Helen and Don Bennett, followed in her mother’s footsteps and went on to play collegiately at OSU. After redshirting her freshman season, Bennett broke out in 2017 and was a major contributor all the way through her junior season in 2019.
COVID interrupted the sport in 2020 and Bennett never played a senior season with the Beavers. Although eligible to come back for a sixth year, she weighed the options and decided to go pro.
Bennett works with an agent who works on finding her options on where to play.
“Now that I’ve been over in France for so long, some teams will reach out to me,” said Bennett, who plays as a right-side hitter. “I’ll just send them to my agent and I kind of know what teams I would be willing to go to versus what team’s I’m not going to go to.”
Bennett said she has explored other professional volleyball opportunities outside of France but it can be challenging.
“It’s hard because — in Europe especially — each country’s league kind of has a different level,” she said. “Some countries are known for playing at a super-high level and some are known for a lesser level. Obviously, I wouldn’t want to go to a country where the level’s a bit lower.”
Would she ever consider playing in an American pro league? Yes, she would be interested in the opportunity.
The Pro Volleyball Federation began play this past January with clubs in seven cities. In November, League One Volleyball is set to debut with franchises in six cities.
“I would love to eventually be able to come back to the States and end my career here,” Bennett said. “But for now in France, I’ve always had good contracts and the league’s good and it has just always worked out.”
Volleyball is a sport that draws a lot of fan support in many regions of France.
“It totally depends on where you’re at,” Bennett said. “Where I was last year, our fan base was incredible. We pretty much sold out the gym every single game and it was just super fun. And we had supporters that would travel with us to away games.”
The club that she’ll suit up for this coming season appears to have similar support.
“It just depends on your location and how much money is put into the club — the more money you put into it, the more support you have,” she said. “But overall, the fan base is really, really good. People love volleyball over there and it’s a fun environment to play in.”
Bennett’s not sure just how long she’ll play the sport, saying it’s a year-to-year decision.
“Every year, I come up with an end date and that changes every year,” she laughed. “I mean, I definitely can start feeling my body a little bit more now that I’ve been doing this for a while. So I’m just taking it year-by-year and trying to see how long my body will last. I would like to get another two seasons out of it, maybe more.”
An athlete’s ability to recover from intense physical activity is a real thing.
“Because it’s such a long season, it is kind of inevitable that you go through points in the season where your body’s kind of breaking down a bit,” she said. “Thankfully, I haven’t had any major, major injuries where I’ve had to sit out for long periods of time but mostly, it’s just overuse, wear-and-tear stuff.”
With that in mind, Bennett said she has learned to approach seasons and matches in a different way.
“I’ve really had to up my management and take care of my body like post-practice, postgames pregame,” she said. “I just can’t jump on the court and start playing anymore like I used to when I was 16 years old or even 19 years old. Now it’s a bit more like maintenance, really having to do the dirty work, to keep the body healthy.”
