Upperman junior Presley Hickman increased her offensive production more than fourfold from her freshman season while helping push the Lady Bees within one victory of the state championship match.
Hickman recorded 450 kills with a .289 hitting percentage as Upperman finished 32-8, captured consecutive district and region championships and reached the state tournament semifinals.
“I think confidence was the biggest thing that changed,” Hickman said. “This past year it was basically the entire same lineup and my same setter, and we just had the chemistry that we needed and we got really good at executing and taking the ball and putting it away. I think that’s what contributed the most and I was very confident every time I went up to swing.”
Hickman recorded 100 kills as a freshman before surpassing 400 during her junior season. She said Head Coach Tory Permenter has created an environment where players build one another up while developing individually.
“Coach P definitely brings the confidence out of us,” Hickman said. “We’ve all grown individually and we’ve all tried to hype each other up and make each other feel great because you play your best ball whenever you’re having fun.”
That confidence also shapes Hickman’s mentality during extended rallies, particularly when a teammate makes a difficult defensive play.
“We just have to be persistent during the rallies because my biggest goal is whenever I see someone on my team make a great play, I want to be the person to execute and make sure the ball hits the floor on the other side,” Hickman said. “I want to get the point for them and it’s so fun ending a great long rally and getting to celebrate with your team after doing something great.”
Much of Upperman’s current core began developing together during Hickman’s freshman season. The Lady Bees followed that season by establishing themselves among the Upper Cumberland’s top teams and making consecutive postseason runs.
“They were definitely meaningful to me because it showed all the work that we put in is paying off because my freshman season, we basically had all the girls that we ended up going to state with, but none of us had played and we were always kind of looked down upon and then my sophomore season, we all wanted to work together and prove that we could be one of the best teams in the Upper Cumberland and possibly the state,” Hickman said. “We never really understood our full potential until we just kept winning and kept going as far as we possibly could and it meant so much to do the exact same thing this year and prove that nothing’s changed.”
Hickman’s growing list of individual milestones has also given her an opportunity to influence the players coming behind her. She specifically pointed to sophomore Josie Bush as someone she hopes eventually surpasses what she has accomplished.
“I don’t want to be viewed as someone selfish,” Hickman said. “I want to be someone who they’re inspired by and I want to teach them what I did wrong so that they don’t have to make the same mistakes I did. With me making a lot of milestones for Upperman, I hope Josie Bush, who she’s a sophomore right now, I hope she comes in and breaks all my milestones. I want her to surpass me in everything and I just want everyone younger than me to do better than I did. I want to set the bar.”
One achievement remains missing from the group. After reaching the state semifinals, Hickman said the Lady Bees enter her senior season chasing the goal they established during her freshman year.
“Our goal is to win a championship,” Hickman said. “That’s what we’ve been working for since the spring of my freshman year. We want to just have our moment and show that all of our hard work has paid off. We want to get those titles. Everyone wants that recognition to prove that we are one of the best teams, if not the best team in the state, and we want the deservingness of winning that game and getting to celebrate and prove that we are the best.”