The Reset: Bucs volleyball advances to state tournament
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
Hoover
Hoover won the game and the region with a 31-7 win over Mountain Brook last Friday. The Bucs get the edge in a head-to-head tiebreaker with Thompson for the top spot in Class 7A, Region 3. As the region winner, the Bucs will host Bob Jones in a first round state playoff game on Nov. 9. This Friday, Hoover wraps up the regular season with a home game against Florida powerhouse IMG Academy.
Spain Park
Spain Park won its second consecutive game last Friday, as the Jags wrapped up Class 7A, Region 3 play with a 42-21 win over Tuscaloosa County. This Thursday, Spain Park concludes its season at Shades Valley.
VOLLEYBALL
Hoover
Hoover’s volleyball team will be making yet another state tournament appearance following a successful run in postseason play last week. The Bucs hosted and won the Class 7A, Area 5 tournament on Tuesday, sweeping matches against Tuscaloosa County (25-10, 25-12, 25-16) and Thompson (25-16, 25-23, 25-12). Over those two matches, Amiyah King had 67 assists and 16 digs, Rya McKinnon led the offense with 34 kills, Gabbi Essix and Caroline Raybon added 13 and 11 kills, respectively, Mackenzie Martin registered 24 digs, and Eva Guenster added eight digs and seven aces.
At the 7A North Super Regional in Huntsville on Friday, the Bucs knocked off Spain Park (25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 25-13) to wrap up their berth in the state tournament.
Playing for state tournament seeding on Saturday, Hoover fell to Bob Jones in four sets to begin the day (25-20, 23-25, 20-25, 23-25). But the Bucs bounced back with a win over Huntsville (25-14, 26-24, 26-24) to claim the No. 3 seed from the super regional. At super regionals, King racked up 135 assists, 24 digs and eight blocks. McKinnon registered 60 kills and 23 digs, Essix had 31 kills and 15 blocks, Raybon tallied 25 kills, Martin had 60 digs, Guenster picked up 26 digs and Baxley Downs had five aces.
The Bucs will play Auburn in the opening round of the state tournament at the Birmingham CrossPlex at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Click here to view and purchase photos from Hoover's volleyball season.
Spain Park
In Kellye Bowen’s fifth season as head coach at Spain Park, the Jags finally broke through to the super regional tournament. Having fallen victim to a tough area the last few years, Spain Park advanced past the Class 7A, Area 6 tournament last Tuesday with a four-set victory over Vestavia Hills (25-23, 25-17, 20-25, 25-23). In the final, Spain Park was knocked off by Mountain Brook (22-25, 17-25, 21-25).
Spain Park ran into crosstown foe Hoover at the 7A North Super Regional tournament, as the Jags fell in four sets (21-25, 20-25, 25-20, 13-25) to end their season. The Jags finished the year with a 33-13 record and the program graduates seniors Allie DeSantis, Sha’Kevia Hogan and Lora Watkins.
Click here to view and purchase photos from Spain Park's volleyball season.
CROSS-COUNTRY
Spain Park
Spain Park concluded the regular season at the Last Chance Invitational in Scottsboro on Thursday, with the Jags finishing fifth overall in the boys and girls Class 5A-7A divisions. Mackenzie Culpepper won the girls race, crossing the finish line in 19:08.22. Holland Lidikay was 14th in 20:13.19. Jacob Warner was the top finisher on the boys team, finishing fifth with a time of 16:03.1.
— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.