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Photo by Erin Nelson. Photo by Erin Nelson
Chelsea’s Lauren Buchanan (7) spikes the ball at the net during the Juanita Boddie volleyball tournament at the Finley Center on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson. Photo by Erin Nelson
Briarwood’s Stella Helms (5) spikes the ball at the net during the Juanita Boddie volleyball tournament at the Finley Center on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson. Photo by Erin Nelson
Spain Park’s Megan Ingersoll (7) passes the ball during the Juanita Boddie volleyball tournament at the Finley Center on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson. Photo by Erin Nelson
Oak Mountain’s Mabrey Whitehead (17) hits the ball in a match against Helena Oak Mountain High School Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson. Photo by Erin Nelson
Oak Mountain’s Emma Hawkins (12) sets up the ball in a match against Helena Oak Mountain High School Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson. Photo by Erin Nelson
Briarwood’s Colleen Lehane (2) serves in a match against Helena at Briarwood Christian School on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
High school volleyball season has arrived. Though it is often overshadowed by the fanfare of football, that will not be the case in this space. Spain Park, Oak Mountain, Chelsea and Briarwood are all looking forward to strong 2023 seasons. Three of those teams make up most of Class 7A, Area 6, while Briarwood will look to make its mark in Class 6A.
Here’s a deeper look into each of those teams, as the season runs from now through the month of October.
Photo by Erin Nelson. Photo by Erin Nelson
Spain Park’s Megan Ingersoll (7) passes the ball during the Juanita Boddie volleyball tournament at the Finley Center on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
New-look Jags still have high expectations
There are plenty of new faces within the Spain Park High School volleyball team this fall.
Eight seniors graduated from the Jaguars’ program, leaving only a few returning varsity players for this fall’s squad.
But that has done nothing to diminish the hopes that Kellye Bowen has for her program as she enters her 10th season leading the way.
“I think we are competitive; they compete hard and play for each other,” the head coach said. “They’re still really young, but we’re learning every single day.”
A great 2022 season ended in somewhat disappointing fashion, with the Jags falling in a five-set heartbreaker to Sparkman at the Class 7A North Regional. But the program is hungry to get back to that point and potentially further this time around.
“I’m excited about the potential of this team,” Bowen said. “They have high energy, they love each other and they’re a lot of fun to be around.”
There are certainly some pros and cons to having such a young team. In one sense, the team can be molded like a fresh piece of clay. In other ways, there is still so much left to learn.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” Bowen said. “The thing about being young, you get to teach the younger kids how to be great leaders.”
Megan Ingersoll and Reagan Gilbert are two of the four returners for the Jags, and both will be six-rotation hitters this fall. Grace Devlin is one of four seniors and plays on the back row. Alexa Benda is a middle who is also returning.
These four already know the standards of the varsity team, with Devlin commending the team’s collective accountability. Ingersoll wants to help get the Jags back to the level they were at when they won the 2021 7A state championship.
“Relentless energy, dominance and grit is the standard,” she said.
Devlin, Mae Elliott, Rigby Perrien and Ella Ussery are the team’s seniors. Ussery is not just new to the varsity team, but new to volleyball in general. She is committed to play softball at the University of North Alabama, but decided to take up volleyball this fall as well.
Cailyn Kyes will step into the role as the team’s primary setter, as she features a larger-than-life personality and has command of the floor.
Bea Wiggins is a hitter but can set when needed. Grayson Hyde and Ja’Niyah Mosley are middles.
Some have made the Jags an afterthought with so much roster turnover, and Bowen believes it is motivating the team to achieve great things.
“This group, they want to show how great they can be,” she said. “That’s what’s going to be fun to watch, is the growth.”
Spain Park will play in the Juanita Boddie Tournament and the Tournament of Champions in Guntersville and will host the HeffStrong Tournament. The Jags will also play a loaded regular season schedule, featuring the likes of McGill-Toolen, Thompson, Hoover, Homewood and Mountain Brook, in addition to area foes Chelsea, Oak Mountain and Hewitt-Trussville.
“We just focus on us and not everybody else,” Bowen said. “You can get focused on other people and other teams. If you focus on you and your team, it’ll all play out in the end.”
Photo by Erin Nelson. Photo by Erin Nelson
Briarwood’s Stella Helms (5) spikes the ball at the net during the Juanita Boddie volleyball tournament at the Finley Center on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Lions ready for tough area
Carly Cline has worn plenty of hats in her time at Briarwood Christian School. She played volleyball there and she’s been an assistant coach there.
Now, she adds head coach to that list of roles. Cline takes over a program that advanced to the Class 6A South Regional last season and has hopes to do that once again, in a tough area that includes Pelham, Helena and John Carroll.
“I want to get our girls back past area,” she said. “We did great last year. This group, I have high hopes for. They have a lot of potential.”
Cline believes in the ability of the team the Lions will put on the floor each night. She also has a well-defined outlook for each of her players in the program on and off the court.
“My vision is to create strong players that are able to compete at any level, but also for them to leave here being great human beings,” Cline said.
As someone who played defense herself, Cline emphasizes the importance of defense, saying “if they’re not great at defense, you can’t have an offense.”
“I’m passionate about these girls being really good at that,” she said. “I want them to take what their position is and commit to it.”
The Lions have five seniors this year, who have played together for several years. Stella Helms, Colleen Lehane, Caroline Jones, Lindsey Butler and Anna Reid Frost will look to go out on a high note.
“The seniors are a really tight-knit group,” Cline said. “They also are good at reaching out to the other girls and bringing people in.”
Helms is a strong left-handed hitter who can and will play all over the court for Briarwood. Lehane will step up as the team’s setter.
Cline called Butler a powerhouse in the middle of the front row. Frost can play as an outside or right side hitter, with Jones once again serving as the team’s libero.
Mia Wilson will be a setter and play right side some as a junior. Clara Crawford and Sophia Seale are sophomores who play on the front row, while freshman Julie Roberts hits from the right side. Eighth grader Leighton Hendley is a versatile player capable of playing many positions.
“There’s only 10 of them, but they pack a punch,” Cline said. “They’re going to come out and compete this season.”
Photo by Erin Nelson. Photo by Erin Nelson
Chelsea’s Lauren Buchanan (7) spikes the ball at the net during the Juanita Boddie volleyball tournament at the Finley Center on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Hornets shaking off tough ending
The Chelsea High School volleyball program is moving on. The Hornets were one of the top Class 7A teams in the regular season last fall, but they were upended in the Area 6 tournament and forced to face the reality of a season that ended too soon.
“At the end of the day, we hung our hat on a really great season, even though we didn’t finish where we wanted to finish,” Chelsea head coach Jamie Gill said. “These girls are successful in the things that really matter.”
Despite the premature conclusion, Chelsea was a team that exhibited effort and teamwork, the main things Gill asks for.
The most notable departure of last year is Emma Pohlmann, a dominant player who is now at the University of North Florida. Madison Moore is also playing college ball at the University of Mobile.
But the Hornets like what they have coming back this fall.
“We have a strong team and a bunch of returning players,” Gill said. “We might surprise some people and we’re excited about it.”
MK Dojonovic returns as a setter, and fellow senior Mara Paulk is a defensive specialist. As the seniors, they are ready to make up for last year’s ending.
“We don’t ever want to feel that feeling again,” Dojonovic said at the preseason Over the Mountain Media Day event at Thompson High School.
Lauren Buchanan is a strong hitter on the outside and has garnered plenty of attention across the area, state and region for her talents.
“We’ve grown so much as a team,” Buchanan said. “We’re not going to back down. We have that mindset to leave it all out there on the court.”
Lexi Rudolph is a name to watch on the outside as well. The younger sister of Amaya Rudolph, Lexi has stepped into the fold as a freshman and has the ability to make an instant impact.
At the setter position, the Hornets are operating from a position of strength, with Dojonovic and junior Cara Belcher. Belcher could play all the way around the court this fall.
Kaleigh Hall is back as the team’s top middle blocker. Fellow junior Presley Durham is ready to make her mark on varsity, while Haley Trotter is a standout basketball player who will contribute as well.
On the right side, Lila Willett and Allison Thompson are juniors who will compete for playing time. On the back row, Reagan Sartin is back after serving as the libero at times last season. Sophia Bagley is a defensive specialist, as is Payton Walker.
The Hornets will compete in Area 6 with Spain Park, Hewitt-Trussville and Oak Mountain.
Photo by Erin Nelson. Photo by Erin Nelson
Oak Mountain’s Emma Hawkins (12) sets up the ball in a match against Helena Oak Mountain High School Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Eagles eager to repeat success
The Oak Mountain High School volleyball team achieved one of its chief goals last fall. The Eagles advanced out of the always-tough Class 7A, Area 6, and earned the opportunity to experience life at the North Regional tournament.
“It was one of our biggest goals, to make it out of area,” said Ella Pierce, one of the Eagles’ seven seniors this season, at Over the Mountain Media Day. “To overcome that was really big for us. Regionals was a totally new experience for us and we had so much fun.”
Oak Mountain was knocked out in the opening round of regionals, but the experience gained from that should be a boon this year.
“Last year, they realized that they could do it,” head coach Grace Burgess said. “They’ve been telling themselves that they can do it for three years. They proved that to themselves last year and they know it’s in reach.”
Burgess said the summer featured some highs and lows, but the inconsistency has only made the team work harder, knowing that Area 6 with Spain Park, Chelsea and Hewitt-Trussville will be no cake walk.
The Eagles have seven seniors this fall, Burgess’ first group to coach from their freshman year all the way through high school.
“They know my expectations are extremely high of their execution of our core values,” she said. “They work so incredibly hard, in the weight room, the classroom, on the court, in every aspect of their life.”
In addition to Pierce, Jenna Burson, Emma Hawkins, Ava Heath, Saiya Patel, Lauren Schuessler and Mabrey Whitehead make up a loaded senior class.
Whitehead recently committed to play collegiately at the University of North Alabama. Burgess also pointed out Heath has taken immense strides over the offseason, becoming a more confident player and a strong leader.
Emma Claire Jones, Molly Shaver, Addison Pollard, Aubrie Lay, Anna DuBose, Bennett Renstrom and Ava Tucker are also part of the varsity team.
Schuessler is perhaps the player that serves as the best example of the totality of the Eagles. She has played a different role each year she has been on the varsity team, capable of being a hitter, a passer, a setter or anything else. Burgess said she has a team full of players like that this season.
“They can all do everything, which is awesome, but hard at the same time, because you have to figure out which puzzle is best,” Burgess said.
Burgess said the key to the Eagles’ season will be fitting those pieces together and not having the seniors put too much pressure on themselves.
