SPARTANS FALL IN STATE SEMIFINAL

The Mountain Brook High School volleyball team fell to top-ranked McGill-Toolen, 3-0 (16-25, 10-25, 20-25), in Wednesday night’s Class 7A state semifinal at the Birmingham CrossPlex. The defeat dashed the Spartans’ (30-18) hopes of claiming a fourth consecutive state title. No other team has won a 7A blue map since the classification was created in 2014. “Today, McGill was the better team,” said Mountain Brook first-year head coach Vickie Nichols. “I mean, they were clicking on all cylinders. I hadn’t seen them play that well all year. It wasn’t anything we weren’t doing.” Mountain Brook traded punches with McGill-Toolen through the first half of the opening set. The teams were tied at 5-5 and 10-10 before the Dirty Dozen went on a roll. They utilized their power and size as they closed the frame on a 13-4 run. McGill-Toolen parlayed its momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 10-1 lead. Mountain Brook’s Sarah Catherine Cooper recorded back-to-back kills to help her team turn it around. But it was too late to catch up. The Spartans dug a similar hole in the third set, as they fell behind 9-2. The team could have tossed in the towel at that point. Instead, it chose to make a stand. Ellen Dulin and Mary Katherine Fowlkes assisted on a block; Grace Carr fired a kill, and Cooper did the same. An ace from Dulin gave the Spartans a 12-11 edge. Mountain Brook extended its lead to 15-12 before McGill-Toolen flipped a switch. It tied it at 18-18 then won seven of the final nine points. “I’m really proud of them. They didn’t give up,” Nichols said. “They kept fighting, just clawing and trying to get back in it, and that’s all we can do.” Cooper led the team with six kills and contributed eight digs, while Carr recorded three kills and eight digs. Ann Vandevelde had a team-high 10 digs, including a couple that required her to sprawl full extension onto the floor. Libby Grace Gann, the team’s lone senior, posted 16 assists. Ellie Dayhuff led the way with four blocks. Mountain Brook, with a roster composed of 10 sophomores, will return 11 of its 12 players next season. Dulin is the only junior. “They have come so far and made huge strides this entire season,” Nichols said. “Nobody thought we’d get this far, so this is a great thing. They’ve just got to remember what this feels like and take it into next season because we’ll be older.”

SPARTANS FALL IN STATE SEMIFINAL

Photo Credit: Kyle Parmley