Photo by Kyle Parmley
Mountain Brook volleyball's Sullivan Lell, Sullivan Todd, Adele Moffatt and head coach Mattie Gardner on Aug. 10, 2026. Photo by Kyle Parmley.
The Mountain Brook High School volleyball team returns nearly its entire roster from a season ago, and head coach Mattie Gardner isn’t shy about what that continuity is aimed at.
“Our goal is to win a state championshipthis year, and that is very much in our reach,” Gardner said.
Two seniors graduated off last year’s varsity group, leaving Gardner with players who already know the standard.
Three seniors, in particular, are asked to set the tone: Sullivan Lell in the back row, Sullivan Todd running the offense at setter and Adele Moffatt as a pin hitter.
“They play different roles positionally, which I think is always really fun,” Gardner said. “We got a libero, setter and a pin hitter, so that’s nice that they each have their tangible role on the court, but they bring vocal leadership, and they buy in. It trickles down top to bottom.”
Gardner said the strength of this year’s team starts with the fundamentals.
She added the Spartans won’t lean on one go-to hitter this fall.
“We don’t have a standout gun that’s going to terminate the ball every single time for us. We have multiple options,” she said.
Moffatt remembers what it felt like on the other side of that leadership as a first-year varsity player.
“I remember being a sophomore coming upon varsity, and it was really terrifying,” Moffatt said. “I was the only one, but those three seniors were really good examples. And the competitive side of all of them made me want to be competitive.”
Lell said building that same environment for this year’s underclassmen has meant changing how the team talks about mistakes.
“We just are trying to take out the word sorry,” Lell said. “So, when they make a mistake, just no apologizing. We don’t put any pressure on ourselves to perform perfectly, and we don’t expect them to perform perfectly.”
Todd said staying positive has been just as important as the on-court work.
“Just making sure that anytime negativity gets brought in, then it kind of brings on everybody else with it, and so just making sure everyone is uplifting,” Todd said.
Gardner pointed to four other key returners: Mae Mae King in the middle, Lucy Comer on the outside, Grace Anne Lloyd and setter Darby Rhodes.
“I think this year the standards are different, and the tone has been different, and I think they’ve picked up on that,” Gardner said. “It’s a process to get there, and we’ve talked a lot about the process.”
Juniors Naomi Borland, Emma Polson and Mary Knox Walker and sophomores Lily Henderson and Mae Jackson round out the varsity roster.
The Spartans open the season Aug. 20 against Spanish Fort before a slate including the Boddie Tournament and matches against Chelsea, Vestavia Hills and Jasper. Mountain Brook is also set for an outdoor match against Spain Park and an in-school showdown with Homewood on Sept. 22.
The state tournament returns to the Birmingham CrossPlex on Oct. 27-29, and the Spartans have their eyes set on being part of that once again.
