Photo by Erin Nelson. Starnes Media
Hoover’s Rya McKinnon spikes the ball in a matchup against Oak Mountain held at Hoover High School on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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
Last Friday, the Hoover football team withstood a late rally from Oak Mountain to win a region game. Click here for the full recap of the action.
Spain Park jumped out to an early lead but faltered in a loss to Gadsden City. Click here for the story of the game.
This week, Hoover travels to Prattville for a non-region contest, while Spain Park takes its open date.
VOLLEYBALL
The Spain Park volleyball team split a pair of matches last week. The Jaguars lost to Thompson in a five-set match on Tuesday, before beating McGill-Toolen on Thursday to improve to 20-4 on the season.
Some stats from the week:
- Audrey Rothman: 63 kills, 17 digs, 11 assists, 4 blocks
- Lilly Johnson: 59 assists, 16 digs
- Brooklyn Allison: 31 digs, 9 assists
- Emily Breazeale: 26 kills, 11 digs, 2 aces
- Paige Ingersoll: 12 digs
- Haley Thompson: 26 assists, 9 digs
This week, Spain Park hosts Vestavia Hills on Tuesday in an area match and plays at Mountain Brook on Thursday. Over the weekend, the Jags host the HeffStrong Tournament.
Hoover won its lone match of the week over Oak Mountain, as the Buccaneers improved to 14-10 on the year. In the win over Oak Mountain, Rya McKinnon registered 15 kills and passed a 2.16. Kendal Thornton had 7 kills and 11 digs and Baxley Downs finished with 25 assists.
This week, Hoover hosts Tuscaloosa County on Thursday in an area match. The Bucs play in Spain Park’s HeffStrong Tournament over the weekend.
CROSS-COUNTRY
The Hoover and Spain Park cross-country teams competed in The Southern Showcase on Friday in Huntsville. For Hoover, Ashley Girouard led the girls team with a 76th-place finish. Lana Kate Hammonds, Lila Hunter, Sarah Hertz, Ava Sparks, Tamsyn Gibbs and Catherine Wallace also ran in the race.
Elijah Joseph led the boys team by finishing 66th. Zander Dakis, Charles Morris and Danny Tackett all finished in the top 100 as well. Matthew Harden, Zachary Cooper and Sam Kilgore also ran.
For Spain Park’s boys, Keith Warner notched an eighth-place finish with a time of 15:13. Kenneth Bishop finished 62nd, with Garrett Bishop, Weston Higginbotham, Webb Harper, Mario Levins and Zane McPeters also running.
Mackenzie Culpepper led the Jaguars with a 26th-place finish. Savannah Hodgens, Delaney Vickers, Peyton LeCroy, Chloe Finnocchiaro and Madison Harvey were also in the race.
— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnesmedia.com.
