Spartans sweep Tuesday, look ahead to final

BIRMINGHAM -- It was no walk in the park for the Mountain Brook High School volleyball team on Tuesday.

The defending Class 7A champions dropped down to 6A this fall, and advanced through a pair of state tournament matches at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

In the 6A quarterfinals in the morning, the Spartans swept John Carroll in three sets (25-14, 25-16, 25-17). In the match, Celie Field led the charge with 12 kills, six digs and three aces. Lilly Gilbert added nine digs and six kills, while Greer Golden had five kills. Evelyn King had four digs and passed a 2.1 percentage.

The semifinal matchup with Hazel Green was a grueling, back-and-forth affair, with Mountain Brook taking all it could handle in a five-set victory (23-25, 27-25, 26-24, 15-25, 15-9).

Even though Mountain Brook dropped the first set, the Spartans rallied from a deficit of nearly 10 points late in the set. The second set was much closer throughout and the Spartans earned a tight win.

The third set was the turning point in the match, as Mountain Brook managed to rally from a 22-10 hole by scoring 16 of the final 18 points. 

Hazel Green ran away with the fourth set before Mountain Brook put the match away in the fifth.

In the win, Field had eight kills and seven digs. King contributed 33 digs and Hannah Parant had 35 assists. Gilbert finished with a double-double of 11 kills and 10 digs.

Mountain Brook will face Hartselle at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Bill Harris Arena in the 6A title match. The Spartans are going for their second consecutive state championship and the fifth in program history (2014-16, 2019).