Spain Park takes down third consecutive ranked team on special night

Published 4:24 pm Friday, September 24, 2021

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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

MOUNTAIN BROOK – It was a historic night for the Spain Park Jaguars on Thursday, Sept. 23 during a road trip to Mountain Brook High School.

Not only did the Jags take down their third consecutive ranked opponent in a row, but three players hit historic marks in the 3-1 victory against the Spartans.

Audrey Rothman and Lilly Johnson both hit milestone marks with Rothman surpassing 1,500 kills in the win, while Johnson passed 1,000 career assists.

In addition to that, Brooklyn Allison set a new career high for digs in a match with 25.

All of that led a 3-1 (26-24, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17) victory in the match for the No. 2 Jaguars.

Rothman’s special night saw her total 21 kills, while Johnson had 34 assists in the winning effort.

In the opening set, the two teams battled back and forth all the way to the wire, which led to a 24-24 tie. Spain Park, however, won the next two points in a row to take the first set 26-24.

Spain Park then put the Spartans in a big whole shortly after when the Jags pulled away late in the second set for a 25-22 win.

Now up 2-0, the Jaguars were in prime position, while a talented Mountain Brook team was searching for momentum.

The Spartans, however, have been one of the 6A classification’s top teams this year and that showed in the third set.

Mountain Brook traded spots with Spain Park and was able to pick up a 25-22 victory in the set to gain some traction and pull within one set of the Jaguars’ lead.

Spain Park’s experience began to wear on the Spartans after that.

The Jags came out in the fourth set determined to put the match away, and that’s exactly what they did.

It led to their most dominant set of the night en route to a 25-17 win to complete the victory.

In addition to Rothman, Johnson and Allison, Emily Breazeale had another big night with 14 kills, while Paige Ingersoll added nine. Breazeale and Ingersoll also had strong nights at the service line with three and four aces, respectively.