Back-to-back: Spartans blast Hartselle, claim state title
BIRMINGHAM – It didn’t matter which team was on the other side of the net Wednesday afternoon.
Nothing was going to stop the train that was the Mountain Brook High School volleyball team. The Spartans came into Wednesday’s Class 6A championship match with a singular goal, to capture a second straight state title and the fifth in program history.
The Spartans did that, never giving Hartselle an inch and dominating all three sets en route to a 25-11, 25-15, 25-16 victory.
“I am just so proud of this group of girls,” Mountain Brook head coach Vickie Nichols said, fighting back tears after the conclusion of a long season.
Nichols has talked all season about the need for her Spartans to string together consecutive sets in which they play their best volleyball. It happened rarely, if at all, throughout the year. But in the final, the Spartans put together three nearly flawless sets.
“I told the girls in the huddle, ‘If we’re ever going to do it, repeat our performance, now is the time to repeat,’” Nichols said. “Wow, we saved the best for last.”
Mountain Brook (34-12) jumped on Hartselle (54-12) early in each set, opening up leads of 10-4, 11-5 and 11-4 in each one and never relenting.
“This means everything,” said senior libero Evelyn King, who was named the state tournament MVP and finished with 16 digs on the day. “This is my last year and I really wanted to go out with a bang and that’s exactly what we did.”
For many reasons, the season was a grueling one for Mountain Brook. The team was rebuilding following last year’s state championship, after graduating half the squad. COVID-19 threw a wrench into the Spartans’ preseason preparation. Mountain Brook was facing a new set of foes after dropping down to 6A as well.
“It means everything to me,” outside hitter Celie Field said. “This has been our goal since day one of summer practices. We knew it was going to be a battle, but we had a vision, stuck with our goal and we finished.”
Field starred in her final match, registering nine kills, nine digs and five aces. Freshman setter Hannah Parant tallied 10 assists, continuing her strong play throughout the postseason.
Sims Kilgore finished with seven kills, while Hannah Hitson had six and Greer Golden and Lilly Gilbert each tallied five. Gilbert also had eight digs, while Alex Carlson had seven.
“There was a lot of doubt, but everything worked out the way it was supposed to,” King added.
Mountain Brook’s quarterfinal and semifinal matches the day prior set the stage for the triumph. The Spartans cruised past John Carroll in straight sets in the 6A quarterfinals and outlasted Hazel Green in a five-set thriller in the semifinals.
Against Hazel Green, with the match locked at a set apiece, Mountain Brook scored 16 of the final 18 points to rally from a 22-10 deficit and win the third set.
“That was the turning point for us, for sure,” Nichols said. “The girls never quit. That’s the most heart and grit we played with the entire season. We peaked at the right time. They came together and it took all 10 of us to get where we did.”
Field and King finish their careers with back-to-back state titles, while fellow seniors Gilbert and Megan Lee rejoined the program and were also key cogs for the Spartans this season. Juniors Golden and Hitson have been mainstays for the team, while Parant was a steadying force at setter. Carlson, Lucy Redden and Kilgore had big moments in the postseason as well.
Like Nichols said, it took all of them. They refused to be stopped, even if the odds were against them at times.
“Nobody thought we could, because we were rebuilding. But we rebuilt, and we finished on top. You can’t ask for much more than that,” Nichols said.