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Photo by Erin Nelson
Chelsea’s Lauren Buchanan (7) hits the ball at the net in a match against Homewood at Homewood High School on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo courtesy of Lauren Buchanan.
Chelsea’s Lauren Buchanan during a photoshoot in September at Texas Tech after committing to play volleyball for the Red Raiders. Photo courtesy of Lauren Buchanan.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Chelsea’s Lauren Buchanan (7) passes the ball in a match against Homewood at Homewood High School on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Chelsea’s Lauren Buchanan (7) spikes the ball at the net during the Juanita Boddie volleyball tournament at the Finley Center on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Chelsea’s Lauren Buchanan (7) spikes the ball in a match against Spain Park at Spain Park High School on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Lauren Buchanan may still be applying Chapstick following her trip to Lubbock, Texas.
She wasn’t used to the dry air there, but that’s seemingly the only drawback from the Chelsea High School junior’s visit to Texas Tech University. Buchanan, one of the top high school volleyball players in Alabama, committed to play for the Red Raiders in mid-September.
“When I went on my visit, getting off the airplane, I immediately fell in love,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan went on to list all the things she loves about Texas Tech: the fact that it plays in the Big 12 conference, the coaching staff, the facilities, all the support provided to the student-athletes. The list went on and on.
Her current high school coach, Jamie Gill, remembers the early days of Buchanan’s volleyball career. She wasn’t always the elite outside hitter that strikes fear into Chelsea’s opponents. Before Gill returned to Chelsea three years ago, she was Buchanan’s club coach when she was 11 years old.
“She was our outside hitter on the [14 and under] team, but she didn’t know how to approach and had very little understanding as to what was going on,” Gill said. “As you can tell now, all that’s changed. We knew she had a lot of potential from the very beginning.”
Buchanan made her first varsity appearance at Chelsea as an eighth grader and has been one of the Hornets’ mainstays for the last three years. She has blossomed into one of the team leaders and most imposing players anywhere across the state.
“It’s fun to coach somebody with so much potential and so much talent and someone who is a great teammate and has great work ethic,” Gill said. “All of that has been a blessing."
Emma Pohlmann was one of the first high school teammates to realize Buchanan’s vast potential and struck up a great friendship.
“We got very close and still to this day we are the best of friends,” Pohlmann said. “She gave me this sort of feeling of trust and someone I knew I could count on. Playing with Lauren was a blessing. I wish I could do it all over again.”
Pohlmann is a freshman at the University of North Florida, and she believes Buchanan possesses the potential to do big things at the college level as well.
“She has one of the best work ethics I’ve ever seen out of a high school player,” Pohlmann said. “She’s determined and she’s committed, and that’s going to take her so far. I’m really excited to see how she continues to grow and succeed.”
Buchanan sees a similar dynamic developing between herself and freshman Lexi Rudolph. Rudolph is young, but the vast potential and talent is obvious.
“Being the youngest on varsity, I was nervous but I knew I was on the team for a reason,” Buchanan said. “With Lexi being really young — I was in her shoes once — I want to help her."
Buchanan’s list of accomplishments for her varsity career is already vast, having notched XXXX (need to update this list). Buchanan points back to her seventh grade year, working out with her dad in the basement of their home, as the driving force behind her desire to be great.
“She has really great support from her family,” Gill said. “They’ve given her all the resources she needs to be successful. Training, lessons, the best club — they’ve made some really great decisions along the way.”
Chelsea was upset by Oak Mountain in the area tournament last year, ending the Hornets’ season much sooner than they originally hoped. Buchanan is determined to not let the same thing happen this season, citing her relationship with seniors MK Dojonovic and Mara Paulk.
“These seniors have worked really hard over the last couple years. We don’t want to let them down. We want to have a really good season, make it out of area, live up to our expectations,” Buchanan said.
Chelsea's season is on the line Thursday afternoon, as the Hornets take on Spain Park in the opening round of the Class 7A, Area 6 tournament at 5:30 p.m. at Oak Mountain.
