Baptist Prep tastes straight-set victory
HOT SPRINGS — Baptist Prep had a bitterness in its mouths the last time it faced Hackett in the postseason, but the Lady Eagles’ taste buds felt a little sweeter Saturday afternoon in their rematch.
Led by spirited effort from senior Allison Jackson, Baptist Prep attacked at every turn and kept the Lady Hornets from getting into any kind of groove to run away with a 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 victory in the Class 3A state title match at Bank OZK Arena.
“Oh my, this is huge,” said an emotional Baptist Prep Coach Krista Spoon, whose Lady Eagles didn’t drop a set in any of their four state tournament games en route to earning their first championship. “We played in this game six years ago when my seniors were in the seventh grade, and this is what they’ve dreamed about because they put in so much time and effort. I’ve got six [seniors] and every single one of them played, every single one of them contributed.
“I tell you, they’ve left the program in way better shape than when they found it.”
The Lady Eagles also found themselves in much better position this time around against the Lady Hornets.
Baptist Prep (36-6), which lost to Shiloh Christian in the 2017 Class 4A final, suffered a straight-sets loss to Hackett in the semifinals in 2021, and Spoon admitted that neither she, nor her team, forgot that feeling afterwards.
“They beat us in that [semifinal] last year, and when we left that game, I said that would not happen again,” she explained. “I told them that I would make the hardest non-conference schedule so that when we got back to this point, we’d be ready.”
Jackson was especially ready for the Lady Eagles. The Arkansas Tech commit had 9 digs, 7 kills and 2 assists to pick up Most Valuable Player honors. Her classmates Faith Upshaw and Madie Stephenson also had significant outings with a combined 13 kills.
Junior Abby Renshaw delivered a match-high 12 kills for Baptist Prep, while senior Presley Morris, a Louisiana-Monroe commit, had a 18 digs to lead all players.
Mackenzie Freeman, a sophomore, had 10 digs and nine kills to pace Hackett (28-2), which was making its fourth state finals trip in a row.
The Lady Eagles dictated things from the start. Baptist Prep never trailed in the opening set and led 17-14 following a Hackett error — a common theme that would plague the Lady Hornets throughout — before scoring eight of the final 10 points.
Hackett regrouped in the second set and snapped a 1111 tie by the scoring two consecutive points on an error from Jackson and a smash down the middle from Alona Rothwell. But an attack miscue from the Lady Hornets started a five-point rally for the Lady Eagles, who eventually took the set when Addie Fielder dropped a shot inside for a winner.
Both teams see-sawed back and forth in the third set until three errors by the Lady Hornets turned a 12-12 tie into a three-point cushion for Baptist Prep. The Lady Eagles held a lead as big as 21-14 late, but Hackett battled back to pull within 24-22 following a Freeman-led surge.
However, Jackson shut the door on a Lady Hornets’ flurry with a blistering shot to win it for Baptist Prep.
“We just couldn’t get it going,” said Hackett Coach Bridget Freeman, who guided the Lady Hornets to state championships in 2019 and 2020. “There were times where we were piecing it all together, but for the most part, we just didn’t show up and play our game. We knew [Baptist Prep] had strong hitters and was strong defensively. … We just couldn’t get anything going.”
Hackett also had 22 errors for the match, some of which were unforced.
Baptist Prep committed 17 errors itself but were able to overcome those by staying relentless from start to finish.
“We knew [Hackett] had the experience of being here, but our senior leadership is like nothing else,” Spoon said. “To be honest, [Saturday] was probably the least nervous I’ve been just because there’s a process we play through. And if you trust the process and play to the best of your abilities, then everything else would take care of itself.
“We were very prepared for this one.”