Free State's Naomi Hickman gets up over the net during the first set of a game against Shawnee Mission East on Friday at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.

Free State High senior Naomi Hickman decided a few years ago that she was going to play volleyball at Creighton University.

But that didn’t take away any of the special meaning of signing day Wednesday.

Hickman faxed her letter of intent at 7:30 a.m., cementing her collegiate choice. She held her signing ceremony in Free State’s black box theatre alongside teammate Payton Gannaway, who signed to Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Gannaway ranked third on the Firebirds with 172 kills, adding 39 blocks, 80 assists and a team-best 48 service aces.

“That was so awesome — just all the family and friends that came to support me and a bunch of people that I didn’t know were coming,” Hickman said. “My grandma came and I didn’t even know she was going to be able to.”

Hickman, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker, led the Firebirds to their first Class 6A state tournament appearance in 12 years with a team-best 284 kills and 124 blocks.

She finished with a school-record 730 kills in her four-year career and is ranked among the top-100 recruits by PrepVolleyball.com.

“Naomi is an incredible blocker already,” Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. “She’s just a strong, physical presence with a big, fast arm.”

With signing day approaching, Hickman traveled to Omaha last weekend for an official visit. It gave her a chance to bond with the team’s freshmen, check out different parts of campus that she hadn’t seen before and watch a game.

Hickman said she chose the Blue Jays over Wichita State, Kansas State and Drake.

“First of all, it’s really good educationally, like they are a really good school,” Hickman said. “Then the atmosphere that coach Booth has created on the volleyball team is really cool. It’s like a family.”

During her signing ceremony, Hickman thanked her family, teammates and coaches for their support, including Craig Friedrichsen, who introduced her to the sport.

Hickman only started playing volleyball at 13 years old, much later than most players.

A few years later and she leaves Free State’s program as one of the top players in school history.

“I owe a lot of that to Craig Friedrichsen,” Hickman said. “I thanked him here. He’s awesome just for seeing me when there was no potential and I was awful and I had never touched a volleyball. Just being like, ‘Hey, you should try the sport.’

“Today is super special.”