Photo by Erin Nelson.
Vestavia Hills’ Emily Byrket (4) sets up the ball in a match against Northridge at Braasch-Hatchett Court on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
The high school volleyball season is always one of the shortest in terms of the season length. The season starts in mid-to-late August and is over by the end of October.
It’s officially October now, meaning the season is down to its final weeks. Mountain Brook is the first local team to 30 wins, with many more setting themselves up to be successful down the stretch.
Last week, Mountain Brook won four matches to increase its record to 30-4 overall. The Spartans knocked off Shades Valley during the week, before sweeping a quad match against Hartselle, Hazel Green and Pelham on Saturday.
Some stats from the week:
- Mae Mae Beatty: 37 kills, 1 block, 4 assists, 31 digs, 6 aces
- Alice Garzon: 28 kills, 4 blocks, 2 digs
- Hannah Parant: 15 kills, 3 blocks, 89 assists, 26 digs, 9 aces
Oak Mountain locked up the Class 7A, Area 6 regular season title by sweeping Spain Park in three sets. The Eagles also fell to Vestavia Hills in five sets earlier in the week.
Top players from the week:
- Mabrey Whitehead: 24 kills, .239 hitting percentage, 4 aces, 5 blocks, 22 digs
- Lauren Schuessler: 18 kills, .113 hitting percentage, 4 aces, 2.0 serve receive rating, 2 blocks, 20 assists, 25 digs
- Emma Hawkins: 2 aces, 29 assists, 17 digs
- Saiya Patel: 8 aces
- Aubrie Lay: 5 blocks
Spain Park notched wins over Helena and Homewood aside from the Oak Mountain loss, running its record to 14-13.
For the week:
- Megan Ingersoll: 51 kills, 23 digs, 5 aces
- Reagan Gilbert: 22 kills, 12 digs, 6 aces
- Cailyn Kyes: 74 assists, 28 digs
- Alexa Benda: 16 kills
Chelsea suffered an area loss to Hewitt-Trussville in its only action last week. Lauren Buchanan led the charge with 24 kills, 4 aces, 3 blocks and 7 digs. Sophia Bagley tallied 6 assists and 17 digs. Cara Belcher finished with 2 aces, 21 assists, a kill, 2 blocks and 11 digs. The Hornets are now 13-13.
John Carroll split a pair of matches last week, sweeping Gardendale and falling to Briarwood in four sets.
Meredith Davis registered 8 digs and has now surpassed 500 digs for her career. Mady Kirkpatrick tallied 19 kills and 5 aces. Kaitlin Gilchrist had 8 kills, 13 aces and 3 blocks. Izzy Marino piled up 50 assists.
Homewood split its four matches last week, beating Helena and Parker but falling to Spain Park and Vestavia Hills. Mira McCool led the Patriots with 23 digs, 19 kills, 8 aces and 3 blocks. McCool has now tallied over 500 career kills. Ellis McCool added 20 kills, 8 digs, 6 aces and 5 blocks. Kamryn Coleman tallied 63 assists, 30 digs, 9 aces, 7 blocks and 4 kills. The Patriots are now 11-18 on the season.
Vestavia Hills won each of its matches last week, beating Oak Mountain and Homewood to improve to 20-10 on the campaign.
Millie Burgess and Jordan Madsen led the Rebels offense with 42 and 30 kills, respectively. Emily Byrket dished out 41 assists and Audrey Vielguth had 33 digs, 3 aces and passed a 2.23 for the week.
Hoover split its final two area matches last week, falling to Thompson in five sets and beating Tuscaloosa County in three sets. The Bucs are now 22-15.
The Bucs against Thompson:
- Kendyl Mitchell: 15 kills, 15 digs
- Kenzie Richards: 11 kills
- Kayla Terrell: 10 kills, 3 blocks
- Sydney Durban: 25 digs, passed a 2.2, 4 aces
- Olivia Guenster: 21 digs, passed a 2.4, 5 aces
- Addison Bentley: 20 assists, 10 digs
- Madi Lopez: 23 assists, 15 digs
With those results, Thompson will host the 7A, Area 5 tournament. Vestavia Hills will be the No. 2 seed, Hoover the No. 3 and Tuscaloosa County the No. 4 seed.
Key matches this week:
- Hoover vs. Bob Jones/Sparkman on Tuesday
- Spain Park at Mountain Brook on Tuesday
- Thompson at Oak Mountain on Tuesday
- Oak Mountain at Auburn on Thursday
- Briarwood vs. Helena on Thursday
- Spain Park at Chelsea on Thursday
- John Carroll vs. Pelham on Thursday
