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Photos courtesy of Fred Harrington.
Spain Park seniors Ja’Niyah Mosley (5), Cailyn Kyes (12), Mary Payton Dees (9) and Bea Wiggins (1) during a match against Helena on Sept. 11.
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Photos courtesy of Fred Harrington.
Spain Park’s Bea Wiggins (1) hits the ball.
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Photos courtesy of Fred Harrington.
Spain Park seniors Ja’Niyah Mosley and Cailyn Kyes celebrate a point against Helena.
Cailyn Kyes, Bea Wiggins, Ja’Niyah Mosley and Mary Payton Dees put their heads together to come up with an acronym involving the word “team” that describes the 2025 Spain Park High School volleyball team.
Amidst laughter that disturbed people down the hall, they came up with a final product: Together, Energy, Aggression, Merciless.
Those four words embody what those seniors aim to bring to the table for the Jags this fall. As seniors, it’s their last opportunity to make a magical run.
They’ve seen it all in their time as varsity players. As sophomores, they made a surprise run to the state tournament. As juniors, they were crushed to be put out in the area tournament. A repeat of that won’t be acceptable this fall.
“That leaves a bad taste in my mouth and it gives us more motivation to come back and prove everyone wrong,” said Kyes, who has been a standout setter for several years. She already holds the program record for career assists, surpassing 1,887 assists in the season-opening tournament. Wherever she ends up at the end of the season will be the new mark.
“I don’t want to feel that way again,” said Wiggins, who has more than 500 career kills.
Mosley said last year’s loss left her feeling embarrassed.
Dees is new to the program, transferring to Spain Park from Beauregard for her senior season. She didn’t know what to expect coming in, but she certainly sees great potential in this group.
“As long as we play as a team and not as six individuals on the court, we’ll make it really far,” she said.
The talent is undoubtedly there for the Jags and has been on display so far this season. Spain Park already had wins over the likes of Homewood, Hoover, Bob Jones and Oak Mountain in the early weeks of the season.
The current roster is a supreme collection of talent. The seniors have great experience while the younger players possess great ability and just need the confidence and experience to be major assets.
“We’re obviously going to have growing pains through the season,” Kyes said. “We’ve been able to work through them and talk through them this year.”
Mosley likes the progress she has seen from her team, which continues to become more mentally tough as the year goes on.
“It took time and experience to be as mentally tough as I am now,” said Mosley, noting that it will all come together for the younger players in due time.
Kyes, Wiggins and Mosley are all committed to play at the next level. Kyes has committed to Trevecca Nazarene University in the Gulf South Conference, Wiggins has committed to the University of the South (Sewanee) and Mosley will play at Bevill State Community College.
In the month of October, the Jags will have a chance to achieve everything. They have regular season matches against Pelham, Chilton County and Bob Jones and play in tournaments at Homewood and Gulf Shores.
They have a chance to make amends at the area tournament — the site where their season ended last year. If they make it past that this time around, the regional tournament and state tournament could await.
The four of them want to be together; they want to bring energy; they want to be aggressive; and they want to be merciless toward their opponents.
“After my senior season, I just want to be able to think, ‘Wow, this was a great year,’” Mosley said.
