The Reset: Fall sports 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.
FOOTBALL
Hoover
The Hoover football team has split its first two games of the season. The Bucs opened the season on Saturday, Aug. 25, with a 52-14 win over Pinson Valley on ESPN. Hoover followed that up with a tough game against St. John’s College (DC). After the first quarter last Friday night, weather forced a halt to play until Saturday morning, when the Bucs fell, 42-14.
This week, Hoover opens region play with a big game at home against Thompson on Friday.
Spain Park
Spain Park was unable to back up an encouraging start to the season, and sit at 1-1 on the year. The Jags opened the season on Aug. 24 with a solid win over Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, but fell to Bessemer City last Friday amidst miserable conditions.
This week, the Jags open region play against Vestavia Hills on Friday.
VOLLEYBALL
Hoover
Hoover volleyball has gotten off to a strong start this season. The Bucs opened the year on Thursday, Aug. 23, with a four-set win over Vestavia Hills (28-26, 26-28, 25-18, 27-25). Over that weekend, the Bucs won five straight matches in the Memphis Metro Tournament, notching wins over Ridgeway, Whitehaven, Munford, West Memphis (AR) and Whitestation.
The Bucs advanced to the championship round of the tournament, along with Spain Park. The two teams decided to delay the playing of that title match to the already-scheduled matchup on Tuesday, Aug. 28, in a tri-match with Helena. In that tri-match, Hoover knocked off Helena in straight sets (25-15, 25-13) and swept Spain Park as well (26-24, 25-9).
Over the weekend, Hoover hosted the Juanita Boddie Tournament at the Finley Center and won three of five matches played. In pool play, Hoover defeated Hartselle (25-18, 25-17) and Lenoir City (25-13, 25-9) before falling to Collierville (23-25, 26-28). In Gold bracket play, the Bucs knocked off Hazel Green (25-17, 18-25, 15-11) but were eliminated by Spain Park (22-25, 25-10, 3-15).
This week, Hoover hosts Ramsay on Wednesday and travels to Sevierville, Tennessee, for the Rocky Top Classic over the weekend.
Spain Park
Spain Park opened its volleyball season on Thursday, Aug. 23, with a thrilling comeback victory over Oak Mountain. The Jags dropped the opening two sets of the match, but stormed back to win the final three sets to take the match (18-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-12).
The Jags played well at the Memphis Metro Tournament over the following weekend, winning five matches over two days. After advancing to the championship match against Hoover, they elected to delay the playing of the final until Tuesday, Aug. 28, as part of the tri-match with Helena. In that tri-match, Spain Park’s fortunes were not the same, as it was swept by both Helena and Hoover.
Spain Park split a tri-match on Thursday, falling to Spanish Fort (16-25, 17-25) and defeating Thompson (25-22, 25-23).
Over the weekend, Spain Park played in the Juanita Boddie Tournament, hosted by Hoover at the Finley Center. The Jags played well, winning four of the five matches they played. Spain Park won all three pool play matches, notching wins over Caledonia (25-13, 25-15), Northside (25-12, 25-23) and Siegel (25-19, 30-28). In the Gold bracket, the Jags avenged a loss against Hoover (25-22, 10-25, 15-3) but fell to Etowah (25-11, 25-22) in the quarterfinals.
This week, Spain Park opens area play on Thursday at John Carroll.
CROSS-COUNTRY
Hoover
Hoover’s cross-country team opened up its season on Friday, Aug. 24, at the Montevallo Early Bird Twilight. The Hoover girls finished third, scoring 56 points. Oak Mountain won the event with 44 points. Notably, Haley Stallworth placed second with a 5K time of 20:41.06 and Emma Langley placed fourth (20:54.17).
Hoover’s boys finished second to Oak Mountain (44-65). Will Couch led the Bucs, finishing sixth with a time of 16:58.05. This week, the Bucs will compete in the Chickasaw Trails Invitational on Saturday.
Spain Park
Spain Park opened its cross-country season last Saturday at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Oxford. Jacob Warner stole the show on the boys side, winning the 5K race with a time of 16:39.92, over 25 seconds faster than the next competitor. The Jags boys finished fourth overall.
The girls finished third and were led by Mackenzie Culpepper, who placed second overall in 20:05.13. Holland Lidikay (22:16.21) finished 10th overall.
Spain Park will also compete in the Chickasaw Trails Invitational this Saturday.
— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.