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By LAUREN SEXTON | Sports Reporter

HOOVER–For forty years, the Juanita Boddie Volleyball tournament has become a staple for the Alabama high school volleyball programs. Spain Park high school, Helena high school, and Pelham high school were just three out of the roughly hundred schools to participate in the tournament held Friday, August 19, through Saturday, August 20.

2021 Juanita Boddie overall winner, the Spain Park Jaguars were 7-2 over the weekend. The returning champs beat schools such as Enterprise, Buckhorn, Daphne, Wetumpka, Mountain Brook, Sparkman, and Briarcrest during the 2022 tournament. 

Spain Park fell short to only two schools, Mcgill and Brandon, leading to the Jaguars ranking second overall in the 40th annual Juanita Boddie tournament.

Throughout the two-day tournament, several senior members of the team had some strong plays. Emily Breazeale had the highest number of kills for the Jaguars leading with 90 over the weekend. In addition to her kills, Breazeale had 17 digs and 5 blocks.

Lilly Johnson led with 93 assists for the Jaguars, along with 28 digs, and 11 aces. Brooklyn Allison had 59 digs, 14 assists, and 8 aces. And Haley Thompson had 76 assists, 14 aces, and 23 digs.

Freshman and newcomer to Spain Park’s participation in the annual tournament, Megan Ingersoll, was a major contribution to the Jaguar’s success over the weekend. The 9th grader had 49 kills, 15 digs 5 aces, and 3 blocks.

Although the 2021 champs fell short to the overall winner, Brandon high school, they secured their spot as second overall with Briarcrest tied with Bob Jones trailing behind them in third place.

23rd overall, Pelham high school’s Panthers went 5-3 at the Juanita Boddie tournament.  The Panthers started the weekend strong beating Prattville High on Friday night 2-0. Pelham had a strong lead in both matches scoring 25-9 and 25-11.

However, the Panthers fell short to Gulf Shore high school in their last match of the evening scoring 2-1. Pelham lost the first set to Gulf Shores with a close score of 25-22, leading to the Panthers winning the second set 18-25. Unfortanelty, the Panthers were defeated in their last set of the night 15-9.

Pelham had a long day during the second day of the tournament winning 4 out of the six matches they played on Saturday, August 20. The Panther lost two close matches against Briarcrest and Baylor. However, Pelham secured the 23rd spot overall by defeating Westminster Christian, Grissom, Daphne, and Collierville.

Helena high school’s Huskies came in 41st place in the two-day tournament held at the Finely Center in Hoover. The Huskies fell short in a close match against St. Paul’s scoring 25-21 and 25-20 in each set. During the second day of the tournament, Helena was defeated by Cherokee Bluff and Mountain Brook in two difficult matches.

With one tournament under their belts to kick off their first weekend of the season, Spain Park, Pelham, and Helena all hit the road on Thursday, August 25, to take on Hoover, Hillcrest, and Mountain Brook.