Mountain Brook Junior High 8th-grade volleyball team wins metro championship

The Mountain Brook Junior High eighth-grade volleyball team won the metro championship tournament hosted by R.F. Bumpus Middle School in Hoover on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 2-3.

The win continued the team’s amazing run in the tournament in recent years. They have won the championship in 8 of the last 13 years and finished as runner-up the other five years.

The Spartans, who are coached by Bruce Henricks and came into the tournament as the No. 3 seed, defeated the No. 2 seed — Pizitz Middle School of Vestavia Hills — on Friday.

They then knocked off R.F. Bumpus, the No. 1 seed, on Saturday to reach the finals of the double-elimination event.

The Spartans played Pizitz for the second time and came up just short, but they forced a third match against Pizitz in less than 24 hours.

In the tournament finale, the Spartans defeated Pizitz 26-28, 25-19 and 15-12 to capture the championship.

The eighth-grade volleyball team finished with a league record of 9-2 and an overall record on 17-5.

Submitted by Lelie Wright.