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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Spain Park Jaguars welcomed some of the best teams from around Alabama to Hoover to take part in their annual HeffStrong Tournament, and they honored the memory of former star Erin Heffner Ventress with a dominant showing.

Spain Park went 7-0 during the tournament on Sept. 19 and 20 to win the Gold Bracket championship, defeating the John Carroll Catholic Cavaliers, Hazel Green Trojans, Bob Jones Patriots and Bayside Academy Admirals in bracket play to clinch the trophy.

What’s more, the Jags finished all seven of their matches while only dropping one set in the entire day, the first set of their quarterfinal match with Hazel Green.

Spain Park started out the tournament in dominant fashion in pool play, where it faced the Westbrook Christian Warriors, Sparkman Senators and Clay-Chalkville Cougars and swept all three of them.

The Jags doubled up Westbrook’s point total in the first set and cruised to victory from there. Spain Park won the first set by a score of 25-11 and then went right back to work afterwards.

From there, the Jags continued to control the momentum and emerged with a dominant 25-8 win in the second set to seal the 2-0 sweep.

Spain Park faced a much stiffer test from Class 7A Sparkman in the ensuing match to end play on Friday.

The Jags and Senators were locked in a tight battle in the first set and were in a 24-24 deadlock to end the set. Spain Park locked in and won back-to-back points to win the first set in 26-24 fashion.

Sparkman remained within striking distance in the second set, but the Jags got a more comfortable lead this time around and used that distance to finish the match. Spain Park won the second set by a score of 25-21 and won the match 2-0.

The Jags rested up and came back to finish out pool play the next day against Clay-Chalkville, and that game was decided fairly quickly. Spain Park raced ahead to a double-digit lead and secured the 25-12 first set win.

After that, the Jags put together an even more commanding performance in the second set and earned their second 25-8 win of pool play. That handed Spain Park a 2-0 sweep and a perfect record in Pool C.

In the match against the Cougars, Ja’niyah Mosley led the team with eight kills and three aces. Cailyn Kyes secured 18 assists, four digs, a team-high five aces and two total blocks. Bea Wiggins had five kills and four aces, Camdyn Kyes earned eight digs and two aces and Peyton Harrington finished with four kills.

The Jags were matched up with Class 5A John Carroll in the first match of bracket play.

Spain Park got the edge on the Cavs early on and finished off the opening-frame win from there. The Jags took the first set by a score of 25-20 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

That set up another strong performance in the second set where Spain Park won in 25-17 fashion to sweep the match and advance to the quarterfinals.

The next round was where the Jags would face their toughest test of the entire tournament in the Hazel Green Trojans.

The Trojans took the fight to the Jags in the first set and made it a competitive affair. Hazel Green grabbed the advantage in the opening frame and walked away with a 25-20 win to put Spain Park on the ropes.

Then, facing elimination, the Jags came up big with a resounding response in the second set. Spain Park took a big lead over the Trojans and remained in the match with a double-digit win in the second set.

The Jags claimed the second set by a score of 25-15 to force a third-set tiebreaker.

Hazel Green didn’t go away without a fight and took it down to the wire with Spain Park in the third set. However, the Jags completed the comeback and won the third set in 15-13 fashion to seal the 2-1 victory.

The win put Spain Park in the semifinals against Class 7A Bob Jones, which ended up being another close match on the road to the finals.

The Jags outlasted the Patriots in the first set and ended up winning the set by a score of 25-20 to get the edge in the match.

Afterwards, Bob Jones got even closer in the second set and threatened to send the match into at least extra points, if not a third set. Spain Park finished the job though and took the 25-23 win to earn the sweep.

The straight-set win set up another matchup with a Class 7A foe–perennial powerhouse Bayside Academy, this time for all the marbles.

The Jags and Admirals went toe-to-toe for the first set and were very closely matched in the final points. A 24-24 tie led to extra points, but Spain Park won both of them to claim the 26-24 win.

With the Jags needing just one set win to clinch the title, they took care of business in the second set with a statement win. Spain Park’s 25-16 second-set win finished off the sixth sweep in seven tournament matches and secured the HeffStrong Tournament title.

The Jags improved to 23-5 overall after the 7-0 weekend, and they now possess a 10-match win streak as a result. They will look to get to 4-0 in area play when they face the Pelham Panthers on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. at Jag Arena.