Spartans volleyball rolls into season with wins over Hoover, McGill-Toolen
With a game on the line and a set in the air, Mountain Brook High School head volleyball coach Haven O’Quinn wants to get the ball to one person: outside hitter Caroline Davies.
“She’s going to take care of it nine times out of 10,” O’Quinn said.
The Spartan senior came through on Thursday night.
In the third set of Mountain Brook’s season-opening match against Hoover, Davies charged toward the net, leapt in the air and hammered home a match-clinching kill to cap a dramatic, come-from-behind victory: 23-25, 25-20, 16-14.
“That’s what Caroline’s going to do. She has the fastest feet, she’s an athletic kid, very mentally strong kid, and she’s a competitor,” O’Quinn said. “She wants to win. I mean, she wants to win.”
Davies’ clutch swing lifted the Spartans to their first of two victories on the opening night of the 2016 volleyball season. The second came against McGill-Toolen, the team they beat last October in the Class 7A state final.
That match also came down to the third set, but Mountain Brook was able to duplicate its clutch performance from earlier in the evening. The Spartans pinched out a 38-36, 21-25, 15-12 triumph.
“Coming back after the last two years, people have kind of been counting them out,” O’Quinn said in regard to her team, “and I think that’s why it’s so special—to me—to come out and do what they did, because I don’t think they were supposed to on paper, but they work so hard every point.”
Neither victory, as O’Quinn alluded to, came without a battle.
Mountain Brook overcame a first-set loss to Hoover, and then grinded through a marathon-like first set against McGill-Toolen. The Spartans and Yellow Jackets exchanged blows each point from the 23-23 mark onward. The set finally reached its conclusion when McGill-Toolen sent a shot soaring over the back line out of play.
“I haven’t had that much fun coaching in a long time, and I’m really proud of my team,” O’Quinn said. “They worked really hard, and that was not easy.”
Mountain Brook dropped its second set to McGill-Toolen, but then surged through the final frame to secure its second-straight victory.
On the night, Davies recorded 22 kills; Emmy Kilgore recorded 23 kills and 16 digs; Lacey Jeffcoat recorded 36 digs; Libby Grace Gann recorded 66 assists and 16 digs; and Mimi Meadows recorded six kills and 14 digs.
The Spartans’ two matches were part of a tri-match held at Spartan Arena between Mountain Brook, Hoover and McGill-Toolen. The event essentially served as a primer for the Juanita Boddie Tournament, which will take place today and tomorrow at Hoover. All three teams will be participating.
“That’s what it was designed for," O'Quinn said of the tri-match, "because we knew it was going to be good volleyball."