By Mike Waters
Never give up!
Cliche, yes, but Hockaday head coach Allison Curran said that is a trademark of her team after the Daisies rallied from a 2-1 deficit to claim a five-set (25-20, 20-25, 22-25, 25-11, 15-10) victory over host Greenhill in the SPC 4A girls volleyball championship at Phillips Family Athletics Center in Addison.
Hockaday (31-16) earned its 12th SPC crown and second in three years, avenging a five-set Greenhill regular-season win on the same court Oct. 6.
In the title rematch, the teams were all square at a set apiece when Greenhill claimed an early 10-point advantage in the third set.
But Hockaday chalked up six straight points to narrow the gap to two before Greenhill closed the set out.
“That run at the end gave us a tremendous boost,” Curran said. “Even though we did not win the set, we got back to playing Hockaday volleyball.”
The Daisies never trailed in the final two sets.
Hockaday came out blazing in the fourth, claiming a 5-0 lead fueled by two Grace Kidd kills that eventually stretched to 16-4 with Annalisa Ryser serving an ace on a 4-0 run.
In the fifth, the teams alternated points before a pair of Ruby Duncan kills broke a 2-2 deadlock, a lead the Daisies never relinquished.
Later, a Greenhill return went awry on championship point, and the Daisies bench bolted to the court to celebrate.
“It was a great game between two great teams,” Curran said. “I thought our overall execution and passing were keys to winning this match, and our player communication was outstanding.”
Princeton pledge Siena Ebert led Hockaday with 29 digs and four aces, finishing her career with a program-record 2,315 digs.
“This feels great,” said Ebert, who had 18 digs in the semifinal win over Episcopal and 10 in the quarterfinal 3-0 sweep of Houston Kinkaid. “A lot of hard work paid off.”
Ebert went on to say how this team is such a “close-knit group on and off the court” which helps “get through the rough spots”.
Senior Mila Haffar paced the team in kills with 17, while Kidd chipped in an additional 12.
Ryser, whom Curran said “transformed the game”, had 13 assists, 11 kills and 14 digs while hitting a .440, while Avery Park led the team in assists with 24 and Kris Thomas hit .714.
Senior setter Porter Johnson, meanwhile, had 14 assists and eight digs.
Both Ebert and Haffar spoke about energy and confidence in winning the championship.
“Our energy level was really high,” said Haffar, referencing the third set rally that carried over to the final two sets. “We fueled off that and our confidence never wavered and we never gave up. That’s just the mark of this team.”
Greenhill (34-8), meanwhile, was seeking its seventh SPC title.
Hornets head coach Tatiane Deibert called it “a very competitive match”.
“We just came up a bit short,” she said. “We were a bit up and down at times, but I’m tremendously proud of this team and our season.”
Coppell transfer Bree Carethers led Greenhill with 16 kills, 12 digs and five blocks, while libero London Kuntz recorded 20 digs and Yale commit Anaya Dube contributed five blocks and two aces.
Jada Fleming handed out 17 assists and Bowdoin College commit Jordyn Wilkofsky had 10 kills and nine digs to cap her Greenhill career. Lola Sagoe notched a team-leading 18 assists for the Hornets.
Deibert lauded her team’s accomplishments this year.
“We beat Hockaday, Episcopal and reigning SPC champion St. John’s in the regular season and that has not happened for a long time,” she said. “This team is such fun and a competitive group of young ladies and I am proud of their growth.”
Deibert pointed out that beating Hockaday during the regular season showed that “the girls knew they could compete and they did”.
“There is a mutual respect between the two teams and coaches and that will always prevail no matter the results,” Deibert said.
Both Hockaday and Greenhill have obvious optimism for the 2027 season.
Hockaday has just three seniors on its 15-player roster while Greenhill loses only two to graduation among its 14-member squad.
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