Photo by David Leong
Spain Park's Camdyn Kyes (3) waits for the ball during action at the Juanita Boddie Tournament at the Finley Center in Hoover, AL on Fri., Aug. 21, 2026. Photo by David Leong.
Volleyball season is in full swing across the U.S. 280 corridor, with Briarwood, Chelsea, Oak Mountain and Spain Park all in action over the past week.
Briarwood went 2-0 over the past week, sweeping John Carroll 3-0 on Sept. 17 and Indian Springs 3-0 on Sept. 22. That stretch pushed Briarwood to 24-4 on the season.
Julie Roberts led the way with 17 kills, while Leighton Hendley added 25 kills. Helen Morrison contributed 12 kills, 10 digs and eight aces, and Coley Barnes chipped in seven kills and 12 aces. Setter Stella Woods ran the offense with 41 assists and four aces, Lily Nelson anchored the back row with 15 digs, and Peyton Gibbons added six kills and four blocks.
Briarwood hosts Homewood on Thursday, then the Barry Walker Invitational on Saturday. The Lions will also host the "Battle of 119" outdoors on Briarwood's football field Monday, Sept. 28, with Indian Springs and Westminster playing at 6 p.m., followed by Briarwood against Oak Mountain at 7:30 p.m.
Elsewhere, Chelsea went 6-2 over the past week, beating Chilton County and Calera in area play, then going 4-2 at the HeffStrong Tournament with wins over McAdory, DAR, Sparkman and James Clemens, and losses to Spanish Fort and Muscle Shoals. That stretch pushed Chelsea to 19-10 on the season, and the Hornets remain 4-0 in area play.
Alexis Rudolph led the way with 78 kills, 47 digs and 16 aces. Layne Moller added 50 kills, 23 digs and seven blocks, and Jordan Knight contributed 35 kills, 45 digs and three blocks. Setter Anna Burnette directed the offense with 124 assists, 41 digs and 13 aces, and in the process reached 1,000 career assists. Abigail Price anchored the back row with 71 digs and 13 assists.
Chelsea is at Helena on Thursday, then off this weekend before playing at Pelham on Tuesday.
Oak Mountain went 1-1 over the past week, falling to Vestavia Hills 3-1 on Sept. 17 before beating Auburn 3-1 on Tuesday.
Oak Mountain is at Thompson on Thursday, then hosts Hazel Green on Saturday and Spain Park on Sept. 29.
Spain Park put together a busy week, with a road loss to open things, a dominant run through the HeffStrong Tournament, and a road win over Thompson to close it out.
The Jaguars went 8-2 over the stretch. Spain Park opened Thursday with a loss at Jasper, then rattled off seven wins over the HeffStrong Tournament weekend, beating West Blocton, Lipscomb Academy, Clay-Chalkville, West Morgan, Muscle Shoals, Homewood and Houston, with their only loss of the tournament coming against Spanish Fort. Spain Park closed the week with a 3-1 win over Thompson on Tuesday.
Camdyn Kyes highlighted the stretch by breaking the school's career digs record, previously held by Audrey Rothman, and now stands at 1,345 and counting.
Peyton Harrington led the way with 98 kills, 56 digs and 12 aces. Kyes added 91 digs, 22 assists and 13 aces. Chloe Shumate contributed 94 kills and 12 blocks, Sarah Latham added 45 kills and 19 blocks, and setter Lynlee Franks ran the offense with 108 assists and 28 digs.
Spain Park is at Prattville on Thursday and Enterprise on Saturday.
