GARLAND — Highland Park has come close before. But making history takes a special combination of talent, strategy, resilience, and performance.
The Lady Scots demonstrated all of those qualities during an unblemished postseason run that culminated with a sweep of A&M Consolidated (25-18, 25-22, 25-17) in the Class 5A Division I championship match on Saturday at the Culwell Center.
HP’s first state title in program history capped a remarkable season, ending with the Lady Scots (43-8) not dropping a set through the entire playoffs.
The Lady Scots finished the season with 21 consecutive victories, including a perfect mark in District 12-5A Div. I play, and they seemed to strengthen their resolve every week.
HP controlled every facet of the match against the undersized Tigers (37-10), showcasing depth, power, and precision in attacks at the net.
Each set included an early HP run to assume control, and lacked a corresponding A&M Consolidated rally. In the first set, HP had just eight kills but also tallied all three of its blocks.
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In each of the first two sets, an early 5-0 spurt with libero Gigi Whann at the service line established the tone, and elite sophomore Sarah Floyd secured the winning kill.
Perhaps appropriately, the final set was the most lopsided of all, with Whann and Taylor Toomay as the serving standouts and Allie Hudgins providing the championship swing from the pin.
Floyd, a left-hander, finished with a match-high 14 kills to earn MVP honors. Hudgins had 11 kills and nine digs. Toomay and Brooklyn Bailey added nine kills apiece. Whann accumulated 18 digs and three aces, while setter Anna Lee contributed 38 assists.
The Lady Scots previously reached the Class 4A title match in both 2003 (a three-set loss to Stephenville) and in 2008 (a four-set loss to Hereford). Three years ago, they were 42-3. But this team reached the elusive peak of a mountain HP has been climbing for decades.
“This is the most selfless team we’ve had. No one is playing for themselves,” Bailey said. “We’ve all bought into the program and our core values. We all trust each other.”
The defeat ended an underdog postseason push for the Tigers, who played in the state semifinals in 1985 and 2014 but were making their first appearance in a championship match.
Harper Korenek and Jillian Vinal had a team-high eight kills apiece. Korenek, a freshman, also tallied 11 digs. Berkley White finished with four blocks to lead the A&M Consolidated defense.
First-year A&M Consolidated head coach Laura Korenek said the Tigers tried to play a faster game to counter HP’s unique blocking schemes but struggled with their passing.
“Size was definitely to their advantage. We knew that was going to be the case,” Laura Korenek said. “We had to adjust our timing on blocking. That’s the biggest thing that worked for them.”
For most of the season, HP’s defense relied heavily on Bailey at the net and Whann in the back row to take blocking responsibilities, and injury risk, away from Lee in the setter role.
“We were able to run a two-blocker system, and choose where we double. Gigi can cover so much court,” said HP head coach Michael Dearman. “We had to teach the players to play defense around a single block, which they’re not used to. Brooklyn is athletic enough to be able to single-block on her own, and we knew she was going to be able to disrupt the hitters. It’s unconventional, but we got really good at it. Brooklyn made that possible.”
Floyd and Hudgins each missed significant portions of the season while recovering from injuries. HP did not have its complete lineup on the floor until early October.
“They came in toward the end of district and we got going and started hitting our stride,” Dearman said. “The depth of our team has made a huge difference, and that includes in practice. I want to commend those girls who played a huge role for us during the season.”
The transition was seamless for Hudgins, a 6-foot-4 junior who transferred from Austin Westlake in the middle of her sophomore year.
“These girls are great, and I feel I was able to become friends with them pretty quickly,” Hudgins said. “They’re really supportive and helped me get acclimated.”
Considering the stakes on Saturday, and the accompanying expectations, Hudgins said the Lady Scots were able to remain focused and didn’t become rattled by the spotlight.
“All season, we’ve done a really great job of taking every game as the most important game. So I feel like there was no added pressure,” she said. “Obviously it was for the state championship, but we really had each other’s backs. We didn’t get caught up in the external things before the game. We were really calm the whole time.”
HP will return much of its lineup next season from a roster with just five seniors — including key contributors Bailey, Whann, and Lydia Fisher, a 6-foot-5 hitter from Atlanta who had two kills in her final match.
