Three-peat
They say the third time is the charm.
That cliché rang true for the Mountain Brook High School volleyball team on Thursday afternoon, with one glaring exception.
That saying is generally used for situations in which someone failed the first two attempts at something. But the Spartans have been there before – twice – and conquered – twice.
Mountain Brook kept its standalone name in the AHSAA record books, defeating Hoover, 3-1 (25-11, 23-25, 25-12, 25-19), in the Class 7A AHSAA State Volleyball Championship at Bill Harris Arena. In the three years since the formation of the state’s highest classification, the Spartans are the only team to take home a volleyball blue map.
“It’s just icing on the cake,” said senior Caroline Davies, who capped her career with 10 kills and eight block assists on Thursday.
The Spartans (43-8) looked like a team that knew exactly what it came for, and breezed through the opening set. Hoover took its second crack at solving Mountain Brook in the last three years – also advancing to the final in 2014 – and scrapped to take the second set.
From there, the snowball rolled downhill for Mountain Brook, giving head coach Haven O’Quinn the ability to celebrate for a third consecutive year.
“There have been two before, and this was hands down the best one because it was the hardest season. It was not easy,” she said.
After graduating Sara Carr and Sara Chandler Mitchell from last season’s squad, libero Lacey Jeffcoat believed in what she saw from the team’s three rising seniors, Davies, Emmy Kilgore and Ellie Ritter.
“They have so much experience too and they definitely led our team each and everyday. They wanted it so bad,” Jeffcoat said. She also led the team with 25 digs on the day.
Jeffcoat, Davies and Kilgore were named to the all-tournament team, with Kilgore claiming MVP honors. But a name could’ve been drawn from a hat to find a worthy candidate.
“That’s what it’s all about,” O’Quinn said. “It is truly a unit.”
Kilgore did plenty to earn her honor, though, and registered 15 kills and 13 digs in her final match in a Spartan uniform.
“It’s the best feeling in the world because we’ve been working so hard for this,” she said. “We came into practice every single day and worked hard. Our biggest motto was, ‘finish with no regrets.’ Lay it out there and give it our best.”
Davies also mentioned the team’s cohesion as a determining factor in its success, as the Spartans’ roster consisted of a mix of young and old; three seniors and five freshmen, notably.
“What makes it so great is that we have such great chemistry,” she said. “We wanted it for each other so much.”
Ritter capped her career with nine kills. KayKay Benck registered 10 digs. Libby Grace Gann, who O’Quinn almost mentioned being worthy of an all-tournament selection, finished with an impressive 40 assists and 10 digs.
“This 2016 team is special and I will never forget this,” O’Quinn said.