Photo by Frank Couch.
Grace Mulvaney is a junior right-side hitter for the Lions.
Briarwood Christian School has a new varsity volleyball coach, but the Lions have no plans to stop being a force.
The school has plenty of tradition, winning seven state championships in a span of nine years in the 1990s.
“My goal is to continue that tradition,” said new head coach Jeff Robertson.
Robertson inherits a program that has been reclassified to the Class 5A level, where he said he hopes to have his program compete at a high level. He has coached the junior high volleyball team the previous nine years before getting the high school varsity job.
“Based on what I’ve seen so far, the sky’s the limit,” Robertson said. “We’ve got six returning varsity players with a lot of experience.”
Last season, the Lions won the area tournament as the No. 2 seed, and advanced to the first round of the super regionals. With plenty of key pieces returning, there is certainly the opportunity and expectation to go further.
Briarwood has two seniors in Alexandra O’Brien and Natalie Crumpler, a setter and outside hitter, respectively. Robertson said he is looking to them for leadership.
Some other players the Lions will rely on include junior Sophie Muir-Taylor, freshman Kolbi Reed, junior Anna Donohue and junior right-side hitter Grace Mulvaney.
Donohue is making the switch to libero after spending last season as the team’s setter. Robertson is confident she will excel at a different spot due to his wealth of experience with nearly every player while they were in junior high.
“There’s only two on the varsity team that I didn’t work with in junior high,” Robertson said. “I’ve got a good knowledge of them, good rapport, and they’re real excited.”
The Lions open their season Aug. 25 when they host Gardendale at 6 p.m.
