Mountain Brook outlasts Jags

In a match that left both coaches out of breath at the end, the Mountain Brook High School volleyball team knocked off Spain Park in five sets on Tuesday night at Spain Park High School.

The Spartans won the final set, 15-13, to win the first Class 7A, Area 6 match for both schools.

“It was huge,” Mountain Brook head coach Haven O’Quinn said. “Both teams knew that it was huge.”

Neither team won consecutive sets, with the Spartans taking a 25-19, 24-26, 25-15, 21-25, 15-13 result.

The fifth set was a back-and-forth affair, with each team experiencing drastic momentum swings. Spain Park jumped out to a 5-3 edge early, but Mountain Brook fought back to tie the set at 10-10. The Jags then took a 13-12 lead before the Spartans scored the final three points of the match.

Mimi Meadows finished the match with one of her nine kills on the night.

The match was as tough as O’Quinn expected it to be.

“What I knew coming in here and what I tried to get my team to understand was that we were about to play a team that is never going to quit,” she said. “Spain Park, they’ve got the right mentality and I think they’re going to do really good things this year.”

Emmy Kilgore piled up 18 kills and eight digs for the Spartans. Libero Lacey Jeffcoat had 35 digs, and Meadows finished with 18 digs. Caroline Davies put down 13 kills and had five blocks. Libby Grace Gann had a great all-around performance, with three aces, 10 digs, and 52 assists. KayKay Benck had a pair of aces and 14 digs.

Sha’Kevia Hogan led Spain Park with 16 kills, followed by Marlee Johnson’s 11 and 10 from Karlee Moss. Johnson also contributed eight digs and Moss registered five digs and five solo blocks. Ali Close had six digs and Ellie Norton finished with 34 assists.

After last week’s win over Huffman, Spain Park now sits at 1-1 in Area 6. The win puts Mountain Brook at 1-0. Each team plays just three area matches, setting the Jags up with a pivotal matchup with Oak Mountain on Thursday at home.