Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Stearman Sets Record With 1,000 Digs
PRAIRIE GROVE — Sydney Stearman finished her volleyball career the way she began it tenaciously digging out an opponent’s hit turning defense into offense while achieving her 1,000th career dig Oct. 15.
Sydney’s achievement highlighted Prairie Grove’s (25-6, 25-10, 25-10) sweep of Gentry and left her coach, Lindsey Biocic, beaming from ear-to-ear. Biocic, who returned to Prairie Grove for the 2020 season after a stint at Rogers Heritage, coached Sydney six years ago when she first stepped onto the volleyball court as a seventh grader.
“I feel so honored to see her at the beginning of her volleyball career and now at the end, it’s pretty rare that a coach gets to do that,” Biocic said. “I knew when she was a seventh grader, she hustled. Normally, seventh graders are real afraid of hitting the floor and you got to get them to go and she was never that case so I knew she’d be a special player from the beginning.”
When the ma tch concluded, Biocic presented Sydney with a plaque showing her in action and recognizing 1,000 career digs. Sydney’s immediate and extended family along with friends joined her on the court to celebrate the feat. The group included her parents, Travis and Shannon Stearman; sister Savannah Stearman; brother Corbin Stearman; grandparents. Gary Stearman Sr., Dawn Stearman, Daleen Hill, and Teresa Stearman; uncle, Gary Stearman Jr.; aunt Abby Stearman; aunt Natalie Helmkamp; cousins, Eric Hill and Trey Hill; plus friends, Cooper Winters and Madison Osnes.
Prairie Grove athletic director Dave Torres authorized Biocic to get a plaque created once he was made aware the milestone loomed on the near horizon. About a week prior, Biocic noticed Sydney’s career digs stood at 983 and immediately realized she better contact Torres.
“The way she’s been averaging in digs I think she’s going to get it next week,” Biocic said, asking Torres, “Do you mind if we honor her after the match and get a plaque made for her?”
According to Biocic, Torres never hesitated.
“Absolutely, that’s a huge career accomplishment,” Torres said.
Biocic isn’t Sydney’s only coach expressing appreciation for the effort she puts forth.
“She’s incredibly scrappy,” said Farmington softball coach Randy Osnes, who coaches Sydney during the fall on a travel softball team, which according to the rules can’t be made entirely up of girls he coaches on Farmington’s high school team.
“Not only did she come over and play for us in the fall, she’s the only girl on the
team not from Farmington, but she fit right in,” Osnes said. “With the boys they call it Mr. Hustle, well, she’s Miss Hustle. She’s so much fun to coach in the fall. I’m very proud of her career milestone in volleyball.”
Sydney came into the match against Gentry needing only two digs to reach 1,000, something she wasn’t aware of with her family working to keep that a closely- guarded secret so Biocic could surprise her with a presentation after the match.
Sydney’s mother, Shannon Stearman, said the whole family knew what was coming and resisted an urge
to let on as anticipation built up in the days before the Oct. 15 home match against Gentry.
“Trying to keep a secret from Sydney with our family was very difficult. We have some people who like to spill the beans, but we did it,” Shannon Stearman said. “We’re so excited and we’re just thrilled for her. She’s worked really hard and it’s been really fun to watch her.”
Sydney herself sensed something was different when early in the match Biocic went crazy for one dig Sydney thought the coach knew she would normally make.
“I was really confused. I didn’t know what was going on,” Sydney said.
Biocic draws great satisfaction from pulling off the surprise.
“I just love it even more that she had no idea she was that close to that accomplishment. She’s a very selfless player and does what’s best for the team and works for the team and that showed,” Biocic said.
Biocic acquired Sydney’s statistics from her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons from former Lady Tiger coach Mat Stewart, who succeeded Biocic when she left after the 2015 season.
“He was just as excited as I was obviously, he coached her the last couple of years,” Biocic said. “I was thrilled to see how close she was and I saw how many games we had left and I’m like, ‘she’s going to reach a thousand.’ It’s awesome.”
Sydney tallied 448 digs for her senior season, which ended with a loss to Pea Ridge in the 4A Northwest Conference tournament on Oct. 27. She finished with a career mark of 1,059, breaking the old record of 883 by
Landry Laird.
Sydney’s father, Travis Stearman, points to her approach to the sport and consistency as keys propelling her to reach the milestone.
“The concept of teammates and taking care of one another and just her character and her ability to be playing whether things
are going bad or going good, it’s the same you know what you’re going to get,” Travis Stearman said.
“Really just put it all out there no matter how good or how bad it is to keep playing and in the end you can look in the mirror and be honest with yourself that you did everything you possibly could for your team to win and that’s for any sport. Then you can really be content with your successes and I think another thing I’m proud of is she cares about her teammates and she really tries to pick them up when they’re down. Leading by example, she’s always been big in that.”