The Reset: Football, volleyball seasons begin

Over the course of the year, the Hoover Sun will keep you up to date on the various Hoover and Spain Park high school athletic teams. For previous weekly updates, click here.

FOOTBALL

The Hoover and Spain Park football teams began their seasons last week, with both teams notching impressive victories. 

Hoover rallied in the second half to run away from Central-Phenix City in a 45-35 win. The Bucs will host Bessemer City this Friday. 

Spain Park rolled to a 52-21 win over Huntsville, as the Jags dominated from start to finish on Thursday. This week, Spain Park hosts Briarwood in another non-region contest.

VOLLEYBALL

Hoover and Spain Park began the volleyball seasons last week as well. Hoover fell to McGill-Toolen in five sets on Thursday (25-21, 15-25, 25-17, 9-25, 12-15) in a matchup of two of the state’s best teams. In the match, Gabbi Essix led the Bucs with 17 kills and Rya McKinnon followed with 16, while Aly Durban had 43 assists.

Over the weekend, Hoover hosted the Juanita Boddie Tournament at the Finley Center. On Friday, Hoover defeated Helena (25-14, 25-14) and James Clemens (25-5, 25-5) in pool play. The Bucs finished off pool play on Saturday morning with a 25-15, 25-17 victory against Alexandria.

In bracket play, Hoover blazed past Bob Jones (25-13, 25-20), defending Class 7A champion Mountain Brook (25-21, 25-23), McGill-Toolen (25-19, 25-17) and Bayside Academy (25-18, 25-15) to win the tournament. 

For the tournament, McKinnon was the leader at 54 kills with a .460 hitting percentage. Essix had the highest hitting percentage at .561 with 41 kills, while leading the team in blocks. Defensive specialists Eva Guenster and Kendal Youngblood each had over 30 digs, leading to Durban’s 138 assists. Sydney Melton also contributed seven aces and 26 digs.

This week, Hoover heads to Chelsea for a tri-match with Helena on Thursday.

Spain Park began the season with an impressive week as well, winning five of its first six matches. The Jags began the season on Thursday with a win over Helena, before playing well in the Juanita Boddie Tournament over the weekend. In pool play, the Jags defeated Cullman (25-17, 25-7), Homewood (26-24, 25-16) and Sparkman (25-18, 17-25, 15-9). 

In bracket play, Spain Park took down Northridge in three sets (27-25, 16-25, 15-11) before falling to Hazel Green (23-25, 25-16, 15-10). 

For the week, Audrey Rothman registered 81 kills, 21 digs, 17 assists, 11 blocks and 10 aces. Emily Breazeale had 39 kills and five digs, Lilly Johnson pitched in 57 assists, Katelyn Walsh added 37 digs and 11 aces, and Paige Ingersoll contributed 16 kills, 12 digs and nine aces.

This week, Spain Park travels to Gadsden City on Tuesday to begin area play. The Jags will play in a tournament at Guntersville over the weekend as well.

— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.