Photo by Erin Nelson.
Mountain Brook’s Anna Frances Adams serves during a match against Vestavia Hills at Braasch-Hatchett Court at Vestavia Hills High School on Aug. 23.
The three seniors on this year’s Mountain Brook High School volleyball team do not stand out from the rest of the roster in many ways, and that’s by design.
There are no defined superstars on this Spartans team, with the team needing and getting contributions from every player on the roster so far this year.
There is also no hierarchy based on seniority or talent; it’s a team effort.
Addie Holden, Anna Frances Adams and Caroline Heck have all proven to be key and necessary components to this Mountain Brook squad.
“These seniors are very unique in the fact that it’s their senior year and they’re all playing such important roles for our team,” second-year head coach Mattie Gardner said. “They’ve been on the team but haven’t been in a starting role. This year, all three of them are and that’s really special.”
They also have taken on Gardner’s mantra of “servant leadership.” As opposed to having an expectation of being catered to because they are seniors, they have had the opposite mentality.
“This season has been a lot different in terms of a leadership role, and how we’re looked up to as people that have to step up,” Holden said. “We’ve all talked about trying to be the best we can for our whole team and not just making it about us.”
Holden had the most previous varsity experience of the three. She is a setter and can also play defense on the back row. Gardner called her the best serve-receive passer on the team and lauded her leadership abilities.
Adams is the team’s libero this year, a critical position to a team’s defense. Gardner challenged her over the summer to earn that spot and she responded.
“She keeps earning that jersey and I’m really proud of her for that,” Gardner said.
Heck has shown her selflessness in many ways over her years in the program, but perhaps none more so than this fall. She has played several different positions throughout her career, but when asked by Gardner over the summer where she wanted to play this season, her answer was a very mature one.
“She said, ‘I don’t care, I just want to play for this team and have a consistent role,’” Gardner recalled.
All three of those seniors have been a part of the Mountain Brook program as it has won three state championships in a row.
They want more than anything to help the program earn a fourth straight and are taking ownership of that journey.
“It’s the coolest thing ever winning a state championship, but that’s in the past,” Holden said. “All we want to do is repeat. Thinking about it gets you pumped up.”
This team has a bit of a different feel than ones in years past, but that’s not a bad thing in their eyes.
“We’re definitely a different team than last year, and I think that’s good. Everybody contributes something to the team and there’s not a huge difference from people on the bench to the ones on the court,” Adams said.
But while the team is different, the goal is the same. The standard does not change. Not if the team is to reach the same heights.
“Now, you have to adapt to that standard and meet it,” Heck said.
