Photo by Erin Nelson. Photo by Erin Nelson
Spain Park’s Reagan Gilbert (15) jumps to block the ball at the net in a match against Chelsea at Spain Park High School on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
There are plenty of new faces within the Spain Park High School volleyball team this fall.
Eight seniors graduated from the Jaguars’ program, leaving only a few returning varsity players for this fall’s squad. But that has done nothing to diminish the hopes that Kellye Bowen has for her program as she enters her 10th season leading the way.
“I think we are competitive; they compete hard and play for each other,” the head coach said. “They’re still really young, but we’re learning every single day.”
A great 2022 season ended in somewhat disappointing fashion, with the Jags falling in a five-set heartbreaker to Sparkman at the Class 7A North Regional. But the program is hungry to get back to that point and potentially further this time around.
“I’m excited about the potential of this team,” Bowen said. “They have high energy, they love each other and they’re a lot of fun to be around.”
There are certainly some pros and cons to having such a young team. In one sense, the team can be molded like a fresh piece of clay. In other ways, there is still so much left to learn.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” Bowen said. “The thing about being young, you get to teach the younger kids how to be great leaders.”
Megan Ingersoll and Reagan Gilbert are two of the four returners for the Jags, and both will be six-rotation hitters this fall. Grace Devlin is one of four seniors and plays on the back row. Alexa Benda is a middle who is also returning.
These four already know the standards of the varsity team, with Devlin commending the team’s collective accountability. Ingersoll wants to help get the Jags back to the level they were at when they won the 2021 7A state championship.
“Relentless energy, dominance and grit is the standard,” she said.
Devlin, Mae Elliott, Rigby Perrien and Ella Ussery are the team’s seniors. Ussery is not just new to the varsity team, but new to volleyball in general. She is committed to play softball at the University of North Alabama but decided to take up volleyball this fall as well.
Cailyn Kyes will step into the role as the team’s primary setter, as she features a larger-than-life personality and has command of the floor.
Bea Wiggins is a hitter but can set when needed. Grayson Hyde and Ja’Niyah Mosley are middles.
Some have made the Jags an afterthought with so much roster turnover, and Bowen believes it is motivating the team to achieve great things.
“This group, they want to show how great they can be,” she said. “That’s what’s going to be fun to watch, is the growth.”
Spain Park will play in the Juanita Boddie Tournament, the Tournament of Champions in Guntersville and host the HeffStrong Tournament. The Jags will also play a loaded regular season schedule, featuring the likes of McGill-Toolen, Thompson, Hoover, Homewood and Mountain Brook, in addition to area foes Chelsea, Oak Mountain and Hewitt-Trussville.
“We just focus on us and not everybody else,” Bowen said. “You can get focused on other people and other teams. If you focus on you and your team, it’ll all play out in the end.”
