Villanova volleyball star Abby Harrell knows a thing or two about farming ... and pigs

The Big East freshman of the year’s volleyball recruiting video starts with her waving from the front seat of a tractor. As Jon Pardi’s “Dirt On My Boots” plays, she shows off her jumps and spikes, does squats in a barn, and sets a cow-printed volleyball while lying on the ground as two curious pigs sniff around her.

Abby Harrell might have a little dirt on her boots, but she proved to be exactly what Villanova needed this season.

Harrell, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter, was one of Villanova’s standouts as it qualified for the Big East Tournament for the first time since 2019. She was one of two Wildcats to make the All-Big East first team, and became the first Wildcat since 1996 to win Big East freshman of the year.

“I was very surprised and excited, of course,” Harrell said. “I think it forced me to reflect a little bit and just appreciate the season as a whole and appreciate all of the factors that contributed to [the award]. … But I definitely did not expect it.”

Harrell is from Ellensburg, Wash., a small city near the center of the state. She grew up on a 1,200-acre farm, where her family grew hay that eventually would be fed to racehorses in Japan. The fields were split between timothy hay, alfalfa, and sudangrass. While most farms, especially of that size, have ample help, day-to-day operations on the Harrell farm were left to her father and her grandfather, with occasional help from Harrell, her brother, and a cousin.

Because of this, Harrell has much more knowledge of the inner workings of hay farming than the average Villanova student. She knows the cycle, how to fluff hay, and just how long to wait for it to dry. She also knows to beg clouds away, as a single rainstorm would ruin the crop’s value.

Each year from age 8, Harrell would raise two to four piglets, but not necessarily for the bacon. Through a Future Farmers of America initiative, she and other local kids would go to a breeder, pick out pigs, and spend the following months raising the animals. She’d determine what each needed to grow from a 20-pound piglet to a 300-pound pig. She learned about more than just nutrition.

“A pig won’t really trust you if they don’t know you or [aren’t] used to you,” Harrell said. “So I would spend hours in the barn just laying in the pen with them or brushing their fur. Taking care of them.”

There was showmanship involved as well. Each summer built up to a fair, where the children would take their pigs to the center of the ring and show them in a competition. Participants would have to convince pigs, a notoriously stubborn animal, to follow them around the ring and listen to their commands.

“There’d be a judge, and you would basically showcase how well-trained your animal is,” Harrell said. “... If it looks effortless, then you’ve done your job.”

At the end of the show, the pigs were auctioned off to be butchered. While better showings led to higher prices (and prize ribbons), Harrell’s small-town community routinely drove up prices to support the children.

Harrell sees similarities between pig shows and volleyball

As she raised pigs and prepared them for the ring, she needed to put them in some uncomfortable situations. She also needed to find environments that stimulated growth. For her pigs, that usually was a barn. Harrell’s growth was farther away; when the pandemic shut down organized volleyball in Washington, she drove five hours round-trip to play in Idaho.

The hard work required for both is obvious. Harrell got her work ethic from the farm, and the pigs showed her that she could only control some things, like her effort and preparation. That mentality and her hard work earned her a scholarship at Villanova.

“It doesn’t really matter how far away that is,” Harrell said about the nearly 3,000 miles between her home in Washington and the Main Line. “It checks all the boxes and has everything that I would have ever wanted in a college experience.”

Another parallel is confidence. Over time, Harrell became confident in her pig-showing abilities. She says she’s still working on incorporating that confidence into volleyball, but Villanova coach Josh Steinbach disagrees.

“When she let it loose and when she was aggressive [in high school], she was really, really good,” Steinbach said. “I kind of said that to her [then], and I don’t know if she remembered that, but she was all of that and more when she walked in on our first day of preseason in August.”

Steinbach had known she’d be good, with associate head coach Jackie Scott telling him during a frustrating 2022 season, “Relax a little bit, Abby’s going to make it better [next year].” But he realized just how good Harrell was when Villanova got to Big East play and opponents’ game plans revolved around stopping the freshman. Still, Harrell led Villanova in kills, was second in aces, third in digs, and fourth in blocks.

Harrell sees similarities between the pig ring and a packed volleyball arena, too. Preparation goes into it, but you have to be ready for the moment.

Harrell has dirt on her boots, yes, but there’s also a freshman of the year trophy on her mantel and a bright future ahead. Villanova can’t ask for much more.