Hernandez honored during senior night

DECATUR — It was Anette day at Decatur High School Oct. 4 as the Decatur Lady Bulldog varsity volleyball team played its final home match of the 2022 regular season. What better way to end its home season than to honor the senior member of that organization! And, since the varsity team has only one senior, it was decided to name the day after her.

Anette Hernandez is a five-year veteran of the Decatur volleyball program. Hernandez started her career in the eighth grade when she, along with ten other eighth and ninth graders, joined the first junior high school volleyball team.

The volleyball program began in the fall of 2015 when two friends started talking on a bus ride home about wanting to put together a volleyball team. A year later, the Arkansas Activities Association granted Decatur High School’s request to start a team and, in the fall, the Lady Bulldog varsity volleyball team was born. Since the team was on a required probation period, the only team to compete was the varsity Lady Bulldogs.

The next year the Lady Bulldogs were allowed to form a junior varsity team. Both teams were allowed to compete in the regular season but not in tournament play. Once the two-year probation period was over, both teams were able to play full seasons, including district, regional and state tournaments.

In 2018, Decatur was allowed to start a junior high team, and Hernandez was one of the first participants. Over the five years she has been a part of the program, Hernandez has grown into an excellent player and a mentor to some of her younger teammates on the varsity and junior high A and B teams.

In a fitting tribute to her hard work, the volleyball program named Oct. 4 in Hernandez’s honor.

Just before the varsity contest with Eureka Springs, all three teams formed an honor line. Hernandez and her parents, Beatriz Escobar and Jaime Hernandez, walked down the line to the volleyball baseline where she was presented with flowers and several personal items, including photos of her volleyball career.

Then it was on to the final home match of the season, which the Lady Bulldogs won in three sets over the Lady Highlanders.