Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – Hailey Hested expects a battle on Monday afternoon when Liberty High makes its return trip to the Class 5A state tournament.

“Once you get to this time of the year they are all great teams,” Hested said. “Everyone is going to give it everything they have. Every game, every set is going to be a battle.”

That’s fine with Hested.

The tougher the challenge, the steeper the hill to climb, the taller the task the better for the Liberty High senior setter.

Bring on the battle.

That’s pretty much all Hested has known during her time as a high school volleyball player and with the final few matches of a brilliant prep career approaching why change now?

“My freshman year I played, then didn’t play a little bit and it was kind of battle from the beginning,” Hested explained. “Then Rylee (Fay) came and I didn’t know if I was going to get to play at all. I feel like I’ve always had to grind for my spot.”

Battle. Grind. Fight. Scratch. Claw. Persevere.

Hested has done it all over the past four seasons and in the process become the leader of a Liberty High program that has emerged as a state powerhouse in just its fourth season as a varsity program.

“It’s kind of been a roller coaster,” Hested said. “But it’s been amazing.”

Hested will attempt to make her career a little more amazing on Monday when fifth-ranked Liberty High puts a 14-match winning streak on the line against No. 4 West Des Moines Valley (19-6) in a Class 5A quarterfinal at 12:30 p.m. at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids.

It is the second straight state tournament appearance for Liberty High (22-2) which fell in its state meet debut a year ago.

“Last year we got there and we made that big step and that was amazing and that was so important but this year for me I just want that first win,” Hested said. “That’s been the motivator all season.”

Hested has never lacked for motivation throughout her career.

A four-year starter with more than 1,800 career assists nothing has come easy for Hested.

She split time as a freshman in 2017 as Liberty High went 13-20 in its inaugural season.

A year later Hested had a career-high 775 assists handling the setting duties full time in the Lightning’s 5-1 attack during a 19-15 season.

Before her junior season Rylee Fay transferred from West High and Liberty High transitioned to a 6-2 offense.

The move worked as Fay and Hested complimented each other well in a breakthrough 34-3 season that ended with a quarterfinal loss to Pleasant Valley.

It’s crazy,” Liberty High coach Randy Dolson began. “If you go back to her freshman year there was another setter who was kind of in the lead and was playing more than she was. That’s how that season went.

Her sophomore year she ran a 5-1 and had a real big year but we saw the talent coming up and immediately we decided we had to go to a 6-2 we have too many good hitters and it’s worked out well.”

It has worked out in no small part due to Hested’s refusal to quit battling and openness to competition and learning.

“When I heard Rylee was transferring at first I was kind of like ‘oh no’,” Hested said. “Looking back on it was that was probably the best thing for me as a player because she pushed me so much and she was so good and we constantly had to battle at practice.”

With Fay off to play college volleyball this season Hested refused to rest.

She welcomed the competition that freshman Mariah Rollins has brought to the setter position.

Just as she did last season with Fay, Hested has used her counterpart at Setter to make herself, and the team better.

Together Hested and Rollins have teamed up for 643 kills while directing a Liberty High attack that features three players with more than 100 kills.

“I knew Mariah was going to give me a run for my money this year and she made me be better just like Rylee did,” Hested said. “It’s super fun because she is kind of like my little mini me so I get to coach her a little bit but it helps me learn as a player too because I can see what from her connection with hitters what she is doing well or what is not working quite right so I can kind of relay that to myself.”

In a shortened season Hested doesn’t have lofty numbers but has never been better than during her senior season.

She has 394 assists and 19 ace serves to go with 117 digs.

Her biggest contribution this season can’t be measured with statistics.

Along with seniors Addie Schmierer and Lauren Roman, Hested has become a key leader for a Liberty High lineup loaded with underclassmen.

“There are leaders by example and leaders that are vocal and those vocal leaders may not be the favorite of everybody because they have to get involved in the discipline,” Dolson said. “They have to take people by the hand sometimes and say ‘hey this is the way it has to be’ and they can’t worry about that. That’s difficult for young girls to take that upon them but she’s done a great job of that the team responds to her and I couldn’t ask more than what she done.”

Just like everything else during her career the leadership has been a battle at times for Hested but that battle has been with herself.

After spending several seasons learning she has become a vocal presence on and off the court.

“When I was younger I was really, really, really quiet and I’ve kind of broken out of that shell,” Hested said. “As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized we have to get the job done. If I have to be the mean one sometimes then I have to be the mean one.”

The career for Hested has been filled with ups and downs.

From 32 combined wins in her first two seasons to a 56-5 mark the past two seasons.

Now Hested wants to finish with a bang.

“Sophomore year our goal was 20 wins, we got to 19 or 20 and we were so excited and after last year we saw we could do so much more,” Hested said. “We still have big goals for this year. For me the title is the goal but I just want to win a couple of games and have a couple more games with my teammates.”

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