CHAMPS AGAIN: Montgomery Academy wins ninth state volleyball title

Montgomery Academy players celebrate the win over Mobile Christian for the Class A Private title at the Birmingham Crossplex. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

BIRMINGHAM -- After dominating Mobile Christian in the first two sets of the Class A Private championship match, Montgomery Academy trailed the Leopards 6-2, causing Eagle coach Jada Coleman to spend a timeout.

“I told them we just had to reset and go back to what we were doing the first and second sets,” Coleman said. “I think it was more so of letting the girls take a deep breath and calming down. We just had to reset and that’s exactly what we did. Coming out of that timeout, we got back to 8-8, so it’s a 0-0 ballgame.”

Trailing 8-5, the Eagles scored eight consecutive points to take command of the third set and grab their ninth state championship in volleyball with a 25-8, 25-10 and 25-14 sweep of the Leopards at Bill Harris Arena on Thursday afternoon.

Montgomery Academy (32-9) has now won a state championship in five classifications, adding the newly created Class A Private title to their trophy case after failing to reach the state tournament in Class 6A the past two seasons.

“You’ve got to give them credit where credit’s due, they played really well today,” Mobile Christian coach Mallory Boyington said. “I do think them having juniors and seniors that have been on the team before that have gotten to the point that they had (made a difference). Sometimes, that experience just overshadows certain things and it’s hard to fight against. I think that definitely gave them an edge.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge. With the split between public and private (forming a new classification), Montgomery Academy has been playing in a higher classification and it’s just a different road for us. But Montgomery Academy played really well. They showed up, they were prepared and you’ve got to give them credit.”

Montgomery Academy outscored its eight postseason opponents 24-3 in sets, dropping two sets to Bayside Academy in the South Super Regional semifinals and a set to Mars Hill Bible in the state tournament semfinals. But for the most part, the Eagles were a dominant unstoppable force in the postseason that rarely made mistakes.

 “We don’t look at the name on the other side of the court because that doesn’t affect how we’re going to play,” senior Elinor Grace Hines said. “We practice how we’re going to play in the game. We have all the skill we needed, we have everything we needed, so none of us thought it was going to be a breezy run-through. We just trusted in ourselves and each other.”

Morgan Springer, the state tournament most valuable player, was a member of the 2023 team that defeated Arab for the 5A state championship and said her team divides each match in five five-point sections, giving them a short-term goal that pays off in the long run. 

“All throughout the season, we have this idea that in every game we’re going to play to five,” she said. “First to five, first to 10, first to 15 and so on, because when you win those games to five, you win the set. And then you win the second  and third (sets). Like E.G. said, it’s not about who’s across the net because we don’t control that. We can control the controllables on our side and we can control the grit and the fight. We can bring that every time and what we can bring is going to be good enough.”

Of Montgomery Academy’s nine losses, seven were to teams playing for a 5A, 6A or AA Private state championship.

 “We’re not playing to tie it, we’re playing to win the game,” senior Bennett Britt said. “That determination is what sets us apart and allows us to succeed. So if they’re up by eight (when Mobile Christian was leading 8-5 in the third set), we’re playing to get to 10, we’re not playing to get to eight. We’re playing to win the set. It doesn’t matter if we’re up or down, we’re really just playing against ourselves. Focus on our game.”

 Over the past three years, the Eagles have had three head coaches, with the third becoming a head coach this fall for the first time after serving as the middle school coach a year ago.

“At the beginning of the season, this was our goal,” Coleman said. “What do you have to do to actually make this goal because every team in the state had the same goal. So what sets us apart? I think the girls were just so willing to put in all the extra work, everyone wanted to come early, watch film … and they were always prepared for our opponent.”

Springer had 11 kills, seven aces, one dig and one block, Hines had eight kills, two assists, three aces and four digs, Britt had six kills and one dig, Caroline Wood had six kills and a dig, Addison Kitchens had three kills, Rehmat Sidhu had 24 assists and 13 digs, Emilyn Trott had one assist and two digs, Kathleen Johnston had one ace and four digs and Lizzie Campbell had five assists, three aces and nine digs.

For Mobile Christian (21-13), Hadley Kelly had 10 kills, an assist, a block and two digs, Michaela Dampare had three kills and a dig, Alex Eck had two kills, Emmy Moody had a kill and 13 assists, Karsyn Grantham had an assist and three digs, Kensley Shanahan had an assist, an ace and eight digs, Ella Finney had two aces and four digs and Maddie Wilson had four digs.

Joining Springer on the all-tournament team were teammates Wood, Britt and Hines, along with the Mobile Christian trio of Kelly, Moody and Shanahan.