Spanish Fort’s volleyball juggernaut kept rolling in Week 5 of the South Alabama high school season. The Class 5A top-ranked Toros went 12-0 last week, won Spain Park’s HeffStrong Tournament and pushed their winning streak to 33 consecutive matches, headlining a week in which three South Alabama teams took home tournament titles.
Along with Spanish Fort, Montgomery Academy won the Mayor’s Cup at Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl Multiplex, and G.W. Long captured Ariton’s Purple Cat Tournament. Elsewhere, two coaches reached career milestones, Faith Academy’s Mikadyn Cauley set a school blocks record and a Northside Methodist setter crossed 1,000 career assists. Here is a full look at the week’s top teams and performers, as the regular season moves toward its stretch run.
Spanish Fort Extends Its Streak to 33
Spanish Fort (41-1) has not lost since Aug. 22. The Toros have now won three straight tournaments, and their 12-0 week included five regular-season wins over Baldwin County rivals before a seven-match run through a strong statewide field at the HeffStrong Tournament, hosted by Spain Park in the Birmingham area.
The regular-season wins came against Foley, Baldwin County, Orange Beach, Fairhope and Gulf Shores. At HeffStrong, the Toros beat James Clemens, Muscle Shoals, McAdory, Chelsea, Vestavia Hills and Enterprise before defeating host Spain Park in the championship.
Setter Cailyn Boykin ran the offense with 284 assists across the 12 matches, while Natalie Maxwell was nearly unstoppable at the net, recording 97 kills on a .569 hitting percentage. Spanish Fort’s top Week 5 performers:
- Cailyn Boykin: 284 assists, 46 digs, 12 kills, 11 aces, 7 blocks
- Natalie Maxwell: 97 kills, .569 hitting percentage, 19 digs, 14 blocks
- London Tucker: 69 kills, 46 digs, 9 aces, 6 blocks
- Cayden Dorger: 48 kills, 42 digs, 7 blocks, 7 aces
- Delaney Duncan: 37 kills, 58 digs, 14 blocks, 5 aces
- Olivia Downey: 37 kills, 50 digs, 9 aces, 4 blocks
- Audrey Smith: 61 digs, 11 aces
A .569 hitting percentage over a dozen matches is an extraordinary number. Hitting percentage is calculated by subtracting a player’s attack errors from her kills and dividing by total attack attempts, so anything above .300 is considered very good at most levels of the sport, and figures above .500 are rare.
Montgomery Academy Wins the Mayor’s Cup
Single-A Private No. 3 Montgomery Academy (15-4) went 7-1 on the week. Its only loss came in a five-set regular-season battle with Class 6A No. 2 Thompson, 3-2. Montgomery Academy then swept through the Mayor’s Cup without dropping a set, beating Marbury, Brewbaker Tech, Chilton County, Prattville, Prattville Christian and, in the championship, Pike Road, each by a 2-0 score. They also beat Pike Road 3-1 in the regular season.
- Morgan Springer: 58 kills, 13 blocks, 13 aces, 12 digs
- Rehmat Sidhu: 185 assists, 10 kills, 4 blocks, 12 aces, 37 digs
- Bennett Britt: 60 kills, 3 blocks, 48 digs
- Lizzie Campbell: 97 digs, 12 aces, 6 assists
G.W. Long Takes the Purple Cat Tournament
Class 2A No. 3 G.W. Long went 6-0. G.W. Long beat Headland and Ariton in regular-season play, then won Ariton’s Purple Cat Tournament with victories over Kinston, Zion Chapel twice and host Ariton in the championship.
Week 5 Top Teams by Classification
Records shown are season records where reported, followed by each team’s Week 5 results and leading players.
Class 6A
No. 7 Fairhope (21-8)
Week 5 record: 2-2
Wins: (Regular season) St. Luke’s, St. Paul’s
Losses: (Regular season) Spanish Fort, Orange Beach
- Anna Britten Stejskal: 8 aces, 29 digs
- Addy Busby: 7 aces, 35 digs, 8 assists
- Kenly Nelson: 45 kills
- Maddie Miller: 96 assists, 26 digs, 4 aces
Class 5A
No. 8 Saraland (16-3)
Week 5 record: 4-1
Wins: (Regular season) Gulf Shores, St. Michael, Elberta, Cottage Hill
Losses: (Regular season) UMS-Wright
- Myah Skanes: 29 kills, 30 digs, 2 aces
- Jazlynn Waller: 19 kills, 5 blocks, 7 digs
No. 9 Pike Road
Week 5 record: 4-2
Wins: (Mayor’s Cup) Prattville, Saint James, Houston Academy, Northview
Losses: (Regular season) Montgomery Academy; (Mayor’s Cup) Montgomery Academy (championship)
- Kierstyn Green: 35 kills, 25 digs
- Bailey Dees: 50 digs
Rehobeth (11-7)
Week 5 record: 3-0
Wins: (Regular season) Wicksburg, Ashford, Houston Academy
- Shelby Davis: 32 kills, 3 assists, 28 digs
- Payton Goodin: 14 kills, 7 aces
- Payten Roland: 12 kills, 4 aces
- Emily Arnold: 68 assists, 3 aces, 6 kills, 21 digs
Coach Cassandra Leger earned career win No. 475, bringing her record to 475-424.
Double-A Private
No. 1 McGill-Toolen (26-1)
Week 5 record: 2-0
Wins: (Regular season) St. Paul’s 3-0, Bayside 3-0
- Alice Wood: 9 kills, 51 assists, 11 digs, 7 blocks
- Makayla Johnson: 9 kills, 7 blocks
- Caitlin Miller: 16 kills, 6 blocks
- Kya Shelton: 19 kills, 4 aces, 11 digs
- Marley Foster: 14 kills, 8 blocks
No. 3 Faith Academy (26-2)
Week 5 record: 2-0
Wins: (Regular season) Mobile Christian, St. Michael
- Mikadyn Cauley: 17 kills, 9 blocks, 6 digs, 3 aces; broke the school career blocks record, surpassing 241
- Kyleigh Grosz: 40 digs, 9 aces, 3 assists
- Kiersten Parker-Nelson: 19 kills, 15 digs, 4 aces
- A’Ryiah Brooks: 19 kills, 5 blocks
No. 4 UMS-Wright (15-8)
Week 5 record: 2-0
Wins: (Regular season) Elberta, Saraland
- Aiden Hope: 20 kills, 3 errors, 3 blocks, 4 digs
- Annabelle Vickers: 28 assists, 15 digs
- Bentley Doyle: 17 kills, 2 errors, 4 blocks, 2 digs
Single-A Private
No. 2 Mobile Christian (10-6)
Week 5 record: 1-1
Wins: (Regular season) St. Luke’s 3-0
Losses: (Regular season) Faith Academy 3-1
- Hadley Kelly: 45 kills, 19 digs, 6 blocks, 4 assists, 2.05 passer rating
- Kensley Shanahan: 22 digs, 3 aces, 3 assists, 2.45 passer rating
- Emmy Moody: 54 assists, 3 aces, 6 kills, 17 digs, 3 blocks
No. 4 Providence Christian (28-3)
Week 5 record: 7-1
Wins: Opp twice, Dothan, Houston Academy, Houston County, Wicksburg, Samson
Losses: Headland
- Carlee Smith: 93 kills, 15 aces, 60 digs, 5 blocks
- Laura Faulk: 184 assists, 14 aces, 29 digs
- Addison Russ: 75 digs, 5 aces
No. 7 Prattville Christian (10-14)
Week 5 record: 7-1
Wins: (Regular season) Alabama Christian, Saint James; (Mayor’s Cup) BT Washington, Stanhope Elmore, Trinity, Northside Methodist, Marbury
Losses: (Mayor’s Cup) Montgomery Academy
- Anniston Robison: 94 assists, 16 kills, 14 aces, 40 digs
- Olivia Rossi: 56 kills, 4 assists, 13 aces, 22 digs, 4 blocks
- Maren Diefenderfer: 56 kills, 2 assists, 11 aces, 23 digs, 2 blocks
Coach Kaylon Cantrell recorded career win No. 400 with the victory over Alabama Christian.
Northside Methodist (12-10)
Week 5 record: 3-3
Wins: (Mayor’s Cup) Stanhope Elmore 2-0, BT Washington 2-1, Trinity 2-0
Losses: (Regular season) Enterprise 3-0; (Mayor’s Cup) Prattville Christian 2-0, Pike Road 2-1
- Shannon Alvord: 57 kills, 65 digs, 10 aces
- Reagan Horne: 40 kills
- Makenzie Foy: 45 digs
- Madison Foy: 70 assists; surpassed 1,000 career assists
AISA
No. 3 Macon East (14-6)
Week 5 record: 2-1
Wins: (Regular season) Lakeside, Crenshaw
Losses: (Regular season) Lowndes
- Ajah Tuggle: 42 kills, 19 blocks, 4 aces
- Bentley Graham: 22 kills, 31 digs
- Kelsey Smith: 51 assists
- Megan Hardy: 46 digs
No. 4 Hooper Academy (7-6)
Week 5 record: 1-1
Wins: (Regular season) Edgewood 3-2
Losses: (Regular season) Abbeville Christian 3-1
- Jenna Conway: 35 kills, 10 blocks, 10 digs, 2 aces
- Jade Taylor: 10 kills, 10 digs, 16 assists, 2 aces
- Kinsley White: 12 aces, 7 kills, 12 digs
- Jaylen White: 23 digs
Milestones Worth Noting
Week 5 brought several individual and coaching landmarks:
- Cassandra Leger, Rehobeth: career coaching win No. 475, improving her record to 475-424.
- Kaylon Cantrell, Prattville Christian: career coaching win No. 400, earned against Alabama Christian.
- Mikadyn Cauley, Faith Academy: broke the school’s career blocks record, surpassing 241.
- Madison Foy, Northside Methodist: passed 1,000 career assists with a 70-assist week.
Four hundred and 475 wins represent many seasons of consistent success. High school volleyball teams typically play dozens of matches each fall, often packing several into a single tournament weekend, but reaching those totals still requires years of building programs and developing players.
Mobile and Baldwin Powers Set the Pace
The coastal counties again made a strong showing in the rankings. McGill-Toolen (26-1) held the No. 1 spot in Double-A Private after straight-set wins over St. Paul’s and Bayside, and Faith Academy (26-2) and UMS-Wright (15-8) both went unbeaten on the week. Mobile Christian sits at No. 2 in Single-A Private. In Baldwin County, Spanish Fort and No. 7 Fairhope carry the flag in the public-school classes, while Saraland climbed to 16-3 with four wins before a loss to UMS-Wright.
Several results also illustrated the depth of the area: Orange Beach’s win over Fairhope, UMS-Wright’s victory against Saraland and Faith Academy’s 3-1 win over Mobile Christian were all matches between ranked or rising programs, the kind of results that can shape seeding when the postseason arrives.
Understanding the Box Score
For fans newer to the sport, here is what the numbers in these reports mean:
- Kill: an attack that results directly in a point.
- Assist: a set, usually by the setter, that leads to a teammate’s kill.
- Dig: a successful pass of an opponent’s attack that keeps the ball in play.
- Ace: a serve that results directly in a point.
- Block: a play at the net that stops an opponent’s attack, often producing a point.
- Hitting percentage: kills minus attack errors, divided by total attempts.
- Passer rating: an average score for serve-receive passes, usually on a 0-to-3 scale, where higher numbers indicate more accurate passes to the setter.
With the calendar turning toward October, teams across the state are finishing area schedules that determine postseason seeding. Area tournaments lead into regional play and, ultimately, the state championships later in the fall. For Spanish Fort, the question is how long the streak can last; for the rest of the field, it is whether anyone can find a way to stop it. Fans should check school athletic websites and the state association for schedules and postseason brackets.