Emma Halter’s love for volleyball started with her sister, Courtney Hopkins.
As a kid, Halter, who’s 10 years younger than her sister, looked up to Hopkins and wanted to copy everything she did, including the sport she played.
“I wanted to be just like her, so that’s kind of why volleyball caught my attention,” Halter said. “I just fell in love with it. I loved the intensity, I loved the excitement.”
So, the two played together and Hopkins treated Halter just like any other athlete her age. Hopkins would hit a ball as hard as she could and Halter would still manage to dive toward it before the ball touched the floor, known as a dig.
“Once she learned how to hit she would help me when I was in college so I could dig,” Hopkins said.
Now, Halter is one of the newest athletes to join Indiana’s only professional women’s volleyball team, Indy Ignite.
“Everyone knows Emma as the volleyball player, which I love and I think is awesome, but I think she’s just such a great person,” Hopkins said. “I’ve heard some things where she says I was someone she looked up to, but I look up to her.”
Becoming a libero
While playing club volleyball for teams with Team Indiana Volleyball, a year-round competitive league outside of school, Halter said she learned discipline, time management and team leadership skills. Over time, Halter became a libero, a defensive player who digs in order to keep the ball in the air.
Christina Erazmus, head varsity girls volleyball coach for Roncalli High School, said she knew Halter was a star from the moment Erazmus saw her at volleyball camp roughly eight years ago.
“She ended up earning the libero spot as a freshman, beating out several seniors and juniors that had that goal of being libero,” said Erazmus, who coached Halter throughout high school. “But nobody ever questioned it because she was just so good just as a freshman.”
Halter went on to play for the Texas Longhorns and helped them win two national championships before graduating from The University of Texas at Austin in December.
It’s pretty easy to spot Halter among Indy Ignite’s sea of blue, orange and white jerseys. Out of 15 players, she is by far the shortest member on the team. Similar to other professional sports, height can go a long way in volleyball. Liberos are sometimes shorter since they have to be low to the ground in order to dig, but many still hover around 5 feet, 7 inches. Even though Halter is only 5 feet, 5 inches tall, her skills allow her to play above her height.
“I definitely have to be pretty quick because my limbs aren’t as long, but I wouldn’t say it’s ever really restricted me,” Halter said. “I always tell young girls, ‘It does not matter if you’re short, you can overcompensate in other ways that can help you be just as good as someone who’s a couple inches taller.’”
“She’s just excellent”
The United States’ professional volleyball scene is on the come up, but it still has less than a dozen women’s teams. Previously, high school athletes spent endless hours practicing on the court and traveling to games across the country — often to compete for a spot on a college volleyball team. Since most professional volleyball programs were located in Europe and other countries, many athletes often hung up their jerseys once they graduated.
But, over the past few years, the volleyball industry’s new growth allows elite athletes such as Halter to keep playing.
“I thought my career was going to be over after college because it wasn’t in the U.S. and I probably wasn’t going to go overseas, honestly,” Halter said. “So when it came to the U.S., it really became a big dream and a big goal of mine.”
Lauren Bertolacci, Indy Ignite’s head coach, said she started keeping tabs on Halter during her senior year of college. That’s why Bertolacci said she left the libero position open ahead of the 2025 Major League Volleyball draft.
“She never seems to have a bad day,” said Bertolacci. “It’s such an important quality to have a positive light around and it’s just an added bonus on top of her being a great volleyball player.”
Indy Ignite will play its first home game of the season at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at Fishers Event Center, 11000 Stockdale St.
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Mirror Indy reporter Elizabeth Gabriel covers the south side of Marion County. Contact her at elizabeth.gabriel@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X at @_elizabethgabs.
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