HOT SPRINGS — For six consecutive seasons, the Hackett Lady Hornets have made a habit of coming to Hot Springs for the state volleyball final.
After three consecutive years of losing to Paris and Baptist Prep in the Class 3A state final, the Lady Hornets (36-0), who dropped to Class 2A this year, brought home the state championship trophy with a 3-0 victory (25-11, 25-11, 25-13) over England (20-8) on Saturday at Bank OZK Arena.
The championship is the third for the school and head coach Bridget Freeman, which beat Crowley’s Ridge for the 2A title in 2019 and Paris for the 3A title in 2020.
“It feels amazing especially for this group of seniors who worked non stop,” said Bridget Freeman. “We talked about it because these seniors, I moved them up as ninth graders and they were part of the three runners-up and for them to finish their senior year is special.”
Served by Arkansas Select Volleyball.
After losing in the final the past three seasons, Bridget Freeman said her team was motivated by looking at the runner-up trophies and were determined to not bring home another one.
“It’s always there because they see the gold ones and the silver ones and they wanted to bring home the gold one,” said Bridget Freeman.
Michaelyn Freeman, who was named state tournament MVP with 16 kills, a .682 hitting percentage and 3 digs, said, “It feels really good to leave this place happy.”
Older sister, senior Makenzie Freeman and 13 kills and hit .385 with 6 digs. Libero Lilly Oxford had 7 digs. Setter Catelyn Edwards had 32 assists.
“It’s great to finally win one,” said Makenzie Freeman. “It’s nice to be back here and finally win one.”
Bridget Freeman said, “It’s amazing to experience this with this group of girls. I feel like they’re all my kids, but this is extra special to be with your own daughters to see them grow in this sport and it’s a great achievement.”
As a team, the Lady Hornets hit .486 and held England to a minus-.063 hitting percentage. Renise Powell led England with 7 kills and 7 digs. AnnaBeth Hallum had 8 assists.
Hackett never trailed in the match which saw two ties in the second set at 1-1 and 2-2, and one in the third set at 2-2.
Bridget Freeman said her goal was to dominate with excellent serving (two service errors) and when they control the serve-receive game, everything falls into place.
Michaelyn Freeman said, “Our goal was to jump out on top. The last few years we wanted to win the first set and we didn’t do that.”
The victory caps off an undefeated season, while nice, wasn’t the ultimate goal, according to Bridget Freeman. “Oh my goodness, it’s amazing,” she said. “We never let that be our focus, nor talked about it. We talked about each game as a new game and went into each game and figured out what is our best approach.”
England head coach Samantha Brewer knew her team faced a tall order after beating Ozark Catholic 3-0 in the semifinals Thursday night.
“We knew coming in they were going to be a tough team,” said Brewer. “We knew we had to get touches off the block and limit the free balls. It’s a tough task.”
Despite losing in the state championship, Brewer was proud of how far her team made it this year.
“We made history for our school and made our town proud and made our families proud and wrapped up a good season,” said Brewer. “I told our girls there are several teams in Arkansas that want to be in our shoes. Being runner-up is an honor to be proud of.”
Cover photo by Joshua Gao
