Warrior spotlight: Hailey Orian
Get to know one of your warriors!
Even though this is Haily Orian’s first year playing for the Warrior women’s basketball team, she is not unfamiliar with her new home turf. She’s only moved across campus from the College View Academy’s gym to the Thunderdome, and she’s fit right into her new team. Early on in the season, Hailey established herself as a team leader and moved from being a first-rotation player to having a starting position. Her team has learned to depend on her guidance and skill on the court, and she’s often on the perimeter dropping threes and occasionally takes on the role as point guard to set up the team’s offensive rotation.
Hailey began playing basketball at the YMCA in second grade (and started volleyball in third grade). From there, she played in a Catholic league close to home during middle school and then for College View Academy throughout high school. During spring break of her senior year at CVA, Hailey received an email. She had been nominated as an All-American for Adventist Hoops. Adventist Hoops was started in 2023 by Dustin Comm to showcase Adventist athletes across the country. In the summer of 2025, Loma Linda University hosted 49 Adventist high school basketball athletes for a weekend of all things basketball. Hailey Orian went from being nominated to being a participant in this historic weekend. The weekend was filled with contests, skill work, and a Saturday night game of the All-American athletes playing against each other.
Aside from the basketball events, Hailey said she really enjoyed meeting new people, even seeing some familiar faces from the Midwest when she played in Union’s annual high school basketball tournaments.
Needless to say, Hailey’s life is very intertwined with sports, so it was an easy decision to join them here at Union. She started the year with volleyball and is ending it with basketball. She plans on continuing basketball for the rest of the time she is at Union. When asked about what she’s learned from all her years as an athlete and advice she would give to an incoming athlete at Union, Hailey said, “Don’t let yourself lose your love for the game. Don’t let anybody get in the way of that. We all have a reason that we play. Don’t let someone or something [make you] forget your why… When you’re worried about how many points you score, how many turnovers you have, it’s like ‘oh, why do I even do this?’ It’s just remembering I play because this is fun, I play because I love my teammates, and I play because of the lessons it can teach.”
Make sure to head on over to the Thunderdome on February 16 to see Hailey and the rest of the women’s team play their last home game of the season!
By Sami Hoffer