Coverage presented by Arkansas Select Volleyball.
HOT SPRINGS — The Hackett Lady Hornets made it back-to-back state championships, a goal they started in June.
Hackett (28-5-2) defeated Taylor 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-10) for not only their second Class 2A state championship at Bank OZK Arena Saturday night, but their fourth in the past seven years.
“Mission accomplished,” said Hackett head coach Bridget Freeman. “This is a nice little group. These girls have been fantastic and battled through many games and different situations to get here and they finished it.”
Taylor (28-4-1) which is in its sixth year of playing volleyball, reached the state finals for the first time. Head coach Courtney McHenry was happy for the fact her team got here and take home a state runner-up trophy.
“To be here is an honor,” said McHenry. “We have a lot of baseball and softball trophies and this is the first time to be here for volleyball.
“We fought back and got a little frustrated at times, but we’re young without a whole lot of experience and they worked hard to get here. (Hackett) is a great team obviously, I just wanted to see them fight.”
Hackett took charge in the first set in a match that featured four ties and no lead changes. The Lady Hornets got better in the second set, extending a 12-9 lead to 17-9 thanks to two aces by Ryleigh Decker and an ace by Kali Reather.
In the third set, they led 7-5 before pushing the lead to 21-9. The match ended when Michaelyn Freeman, who was named state tournament MVP, had a kill to start the celebration.
“We talked about controlling the tempo the whole game,” said Bridget Freeman. “The times we struggled, we talked about how our offense is getting slower and we talked about pushing ahead.”
Michaelyn Freeman was named state tournament MVP for the second year in a row after finishing with 15 kills while hitting .419 with 12 digs. Catelyn Edwards had 24 assists.
Kendall Hamlin led Taylor with eight kills. Kallie McHenry had 14 assists and Genna Braswell had seven digs.
“Michaelyn is a tremendous worker and she’s the glue for us,” said Bridget Freeman. “She helps us get calmed down and that is an accomplishment that is bigger than all of her physical ability.
Michaelyn Freeman said, “It’s awesome and huge blessing. I feel like that other trophy is a lot more fun and finishing with a win, is so appropriate.”
Michaelyn Freeman, who finished her career by playing in the state final all four years, was happy to walk away with another championship trophy.
Michaelyn Freeman said she was fortunate to get a great set from one of her teammates to put down the final kill.
Bridget Freeman, who also coached her daughters Makenzie (Class of 2025) and Madeline (Class of 2022) said it was special to see Michaelyn get the kill to end the match. “It’s pretty emotional and humbling since I’ve been coaching these girls for a long time,” she said. “It’s neat and it’s my last kiddo and all of these kids, they’re special.”
After going 36-0 a year ago, Bridget Freeman had her team play a tough non-conference schedule featuring 3A finalist Mansfield, 4A state participants Pottsville, Mena and Bauxite and 5A participants Valley View, Farmington and Siloam Springs along with tournaments at Fort Smith and Hot Springs Lakeside with the goal of using the tough competition to prepare her team for the state finals. The plan worked.
“We learned how to mentally control ourselves in situations and push ourselves,” said Bridget Freeman. “In this atmosphere, you can face anything.”
Cover photo courtesy of the Hackett Sports Network
