Kelly Hogan was voted Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week after scoring 14 points and grabbing 15 rebounds over top-ranked TCIS opponent last week Norfolk Christian.

Hogan is a senior at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and has been having a great senior season so far. After the team lost two All-State players from last year, Hogan was expected to step up.

The potential for growth was there, as Hogan was named to the second-team all-TCIS team last year, and she has done a good job of showing some growth this year.

Before the season, Lady Saints coach Kim Aston told Hogan and the other seniors they would need to step up as leaders. Hogan has always been a solid contributor on the team in years past but never had to assume the primary role of scoring and leadership. She has embraced the challenge to become more of a scoring threat.

“From four years ago on JV to where she is now has been remarkable,” Aston said. “She works really hard, and she wants to improve. The first three years I coached her after every practice and game, she’d ask me what she needed to work on. She really cared about getting better and has been a difference maker for us this season.”

On Jan. 26, the Lady Saints took on Norfolk Christian, which at the time was the conference leader. Hogan scored 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for NSA to help them to a big win. She has been averaging a double-double for the season, including posting a game where she scored 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. One of Hogan’s goals was to break 20 points in a game. She has done that while also sticking to that double-double she wanted to average.

The senior took it upon herself to improve any way she could this season. One of the main things she wanted to improve was her three-point shooting. She felt she has done that, as she shoots above 70 percent from the free-throw line.

“I used to feel a little nervous about going to the free throw line,” Hogan said. “But now I am much more confident.”

So far this season, NSA has knocked off the top two teams in the TCIS. As the season has progressed, Hogan believes her team has become more cohesive with each game they have played. Hogan describes herself as tenacious and motivated, which shows why she been such a significant presence in the low post for the Lady Saints.

Hogan is always reminded by her father that “you get out what you put in.” It motivates her, as she applies the phrase to her daily life on and off the court. Her parents inspire her with their work ethic and the support that they show her in whatever she does. She hopes to one day be like them.

Hogan is verbally committed to the NCAA Division I program at the University of Arkansas—Little Rock. There she will major in chemistry and minor in biology and Spanish. Right now Hogan is consumed in her academics, as she takes three Advanced Placement courses, so she doesn’t have much free time. When she does have free time, she enjoys spending it with her family.

Hogan and NSA will be in action again at Walsingham Academy Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.