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David Leung
Spain Park Volleyball
Spain Park teammates celebrate a successful point during a Class 6A volleyball state championship semifinal match between Spain Park and Hazel Green on Oct. 28 at the Birmingham Crossplex.
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Kyle Parmley
Spain Park Volleyball
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David Leung
Spain Park Volleyball
The Spain Park High School volleyball team will take great pride in the 2025 team's accomplishments.
A senior group of Bea Wiggins, Ja'Niyah Mosley and Cailyn Kyes wanted nothing more than to erase the despair of last season, as a team accustomed to winning big was ousted in the area tournament.
This year, they were joined by fellow senior and transfer Mary Payton Dees, and achieved that and more. The Jags rolled all the way to the Class 6A semifinals Oct. 28 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Spain Park earned a win in the opening round of the state tournament with a 3-1 win over Hartselle. The Jags dominated the first two sets before Hartselle grabbed the third and Spain Park finished the match off in the fourth.
"I said, 'If I told you last October, after we got beat by Chelsea, that we would be 38-9 and in the final four, y'all wouldn't have believed me,'" Spain Park head coach Justin Kisor said.
Hazel Green proved too much in the semifinals, winning 3-0 to advance to the championship match.
"I'm obviously disappointed that we didn't get the job done, but I'm not disappointed in our girls," Kisor said. "I'm proud of our girls. We fought. Hats off to Hazel Green, they did a great job. We knew they were going to do that and be scrappy and be gritty. And we just didn't have much left in the tank."
Kisor has now completed his second season at Spain Park, and balances admiration for his outgoing seniors and appreciation for what they accomplished, along with knowing the future is bright as well. Kisor praised underclassmen like Peyton Harrington, Chloe Shumate, Camdyn Kyes, Aya Sudarsana and others for stepping up in the biggest moments of their careers.
"In a couple of days, I'll sit there and think, wow, that was a heck of a ride. But right now, I hurt for our seniors. I hurt for them, and I would have done anything for there to be a different outcome. But we did all we could do, and they fought," he said.
