Photo by Kyle Parmley.
Oak Mountain's Saiya Patel (2) hits during a match between Oak Mountain and Tuscaloosa County on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, at Oak Mountain High School. Photo by Kyle Parmley.
The postseason is just a week away, with area tournaments commencing next week. Many teams are done with area play, now it’s a matter of rounding into top form heading into the most important stretch of the year.
Last week, John Carroll played seven matches, including several at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa’s tournament. But the biggest win came Tuesday night, as the Cavs defeated Pelham, the top team in the area, in five sets.
Pelham won the first two sets, but John Carroll rallied to take the final three and win the match. Setter Izzy Marino piled up 31 assists to lead the offense. Mady Kirkpatrick, Marion Haskell and Ella Hale finished with 13, 8 and 6 kills, respectively. Sienna Massa finished with 14 digs and Meredith Davis had 13 digs for the match. Kaitlin Gilchrist and Olivia Sapalaran each had 4 aces.
The Cavs also beat Paul Bryant and Lamar County, with losses to Springville, Shades Valley, Cullman and LAMP. For the week, Davis led the back row with 51 digs, with Massa contributing 43 digs and 9 aces. Gilchrist had 18 kills and 13 aces. Kirkpatrick led the hitters with 62 kills and 35 digs, while Haskell finished the week with 43 kills and 6 blocks.
Hoover split a tri-match Tuesday, beating Sparkman and falling to top-ranked Bob Jones. Against Sparkman, Mackenzie Richards and Kendyl Mitchell posted 7 and 6 kills, respectively, to lead the way. Sydney Durban had 13 digs, with Olivia Guenster finishing with 3 aces, 5 digs and a 2.8 passing rating.
Against Bob Jones, Grace Johnston posted 4 blocks and Durban finished with 15 digs.
Hoover (24-16) knocked off Grissom in the Bucs’ final home match of the season Thursday. Sophomore Sydnie Broom was a huge factor, playing a part in all 11 blocks. Kayla Terrell contributed to 5 of those as well. Sydney Durban led a dominant back row performance, piling up 29 digs, serving 3 aces and passing a 2.5. Madi Lopez had a double-double with 15 assists and 10 digs.
Chelsea (18-14) posted wins over Spain Park, Sylvania, Sardis, Springville and Tuscaloosa County last week, with the lone loss to Briarwood.
Lauren Buchanan crossed the 1,000-kill mark for her career, posting 90 kills, 11 aces, 2 blocks and 36 digs on the week. Cara Belcher went for 23 kills, 102 assists, 34 digs, 4 blocks and 15 aces. Kaleigh Hall finished the week with 40 kills, 9 blocks, 6 assists and 5 digs.
Oak Mountain (20-11) beat Thompson and lost to Auburn last week, playing a couple Class 7A foes. Lauren Schuessler finished the week with 33 kills, 2 aces, a 2.67 serve receive rating, a .279 hitting percentage, 6 blocks, 39 assists and 48 digs. Mabrey Whitehead had a strong week as well, posting 34 kills, 2 aces, a 2.02 serve receive rating, a .200 hitting percentage, 3 blocks, 1 assist and 30 digs.
Ella Pierce led the Eagles with 5 aces, Saiya Patel led the team with a .286 hitting percentage and 8 blocks and Emma Hawkins posted a team-high 51 assists.
Vestavia Hills (22-10) played a pair of matches last week as well, beating Hewitt-Trussville and Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa. The Rebels are on a 14-1 stretch over the last month, with their only loss in five sets against area foe Thompson. Over that run, they have beaten the likes of Oak Mountain, Hoover and Sparkman.
Millie Burgess and Jordan Madsen led the way for the Rebels offensively with 24 and 20 kills, respectively, last week. Emily Byrket directed the offense with 35 assists and also had 5 aces. Audrey Vielguth continued her stellar play with 31 digs on the week.
Spain Park (17-16) dropped both of its matches during the week, to Mountain Brook and Chelsea. At a tournament in Georgia, the Jags defeated Whitewater, St. Pius X and Elite Scholar Academy. Their only loss was to Mt. Paran.
- For the week:
- Megan Ingersoll: 71 kills, 35 digs, 6 aces
- Reagan Gilbert: 42 kills, 27 digs, 8 aces
- Cailyn Kyes: 102 assists, 26 digs, 7 aces
- Bea Wiggins: 21 kills
- Mae Elliott: 11 aces
- Grace Devlin: 31 digs
- Alexa Benda: 17 kills, 13 blocks
Mountain Brook notched wins over Spain Park and Woodlawn and raised its record to 32-4. Alice Garzon led the way with 17 kills, 8 blocks and 2 assists for the week. Hannah Parant added 12 kills, 2 aces and 9 digs.
Key matches this week:
- John Carroll at Briarwood on Tuesday
- Homewood at Chelsea on Tuesday
- Hoover at Oak Mountain on Tuesday
- Chelsea at Vestavia Hills on Wednesday
- Margaret Blalock Tournament at Homewood this weekend
