Spanish Fort Volleyball Beats Jasper for Third Straight State Title, Sixth Since 2015

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Three seasons, two classifications, one result. Spanish Fort volleyball won its third consecutive state championship Thursday morning, beating Jasper 3-1 in the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Class 5A final at Bill Harris Arena and avenging one of only three losses the Toros suffered all season.

Spanish Fort won by set scores of 25-21, 25-27, 25-15 and 25-23. The title is the program’s sixth since 2015, and the first to come outside Class 6A. The Toros won their earlier championships in Class 6A before moving down a classification this year, when the AHSAA redrew its classifications and separated public and private schools for state championship play.

For head coach Gretchen Boykin, the idea that winning could become routine never made sense.

“I don’t know how people think it could get old because every year is special and different,” Boykin said.

She made the same point when asked about stacking one championship on top of another. “Not many teams get to do that,” she said. “It gets harder and harder and harder. … It never gets old.”

A loss that paid off

Jasper was one of just three teams to beat Spanish Fort this season. The Toros’ other losses came against a Tennessee opponent and against McGill-Toolen, the Mobile private school that won the Private Class AA championship Wednesday for its fifth straight title. After falling to Jasper during the regular season, Spanish Fort did not lose again, closing the year on a 17-match winning streak.

Boykin said that earlier meeting with the Vikings turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened to her team. The two programs also met during the summer, she noted, though that match did not count.

“We’ve only played them one time, and we were not at our peak at that time, but I think that’s the best thing in the world that could have happened to us,” Boykin said. “If we would have been our best and we would have beaten them, we wouldn’t have really been so prepared. Not that we wouldn’t have been prepared, but you always learn more from your losses than your wins.”

Boykin said the loss helped her team refocus on its goals for the season. By Thursday, the Toros were ready for the rematch.

How the final unfolded

Spanish Fort took a tight first set 25-21, but Jasper answered by winning a back-and-forth second set 27-25 to even the match. The Toros responded with their most decisive set of the morning, pulling away 25-15 in the third, then held on for a 25-23 win in the fourth to close out the championship.

Serving was a major weapon. Spanish Fort finished the match with 20 service aces, with Cailyn Boykin and Delaney Duncan each accounting for seven.

Junior Natalie Maxwell was named the Class 5A tournament’s Most Valuable Player. She led the Toros with 13 kills and added four blocks. Cayden Dorger had 11 kills and a team-high 12 digs, and London Tucker added nine kills. Audrey Smith finished with nine digs. Cailyn Boykin, the coach’s daughter and a senior, ran the offense with 38 assists and added eight digs to go with her seven aces.

Maxwell, Dorger, Duncan and Cailyn Boykin were named to the all-tournament team.

Road to the title

Spanish Fort arrived in Birmingham as the South Super Regional champion in Class 5A after sweeping Saraland in the regional final in Montgomery, earning the South’s No. 1 seed. At the state tournament, the Toros swept Southside-Rainbow City 3-0 in Wednesday’s first round, then beat Mountain Brook 3-1 in the semifinals to reach the final.

Jasper’s path was equally impressive. The Vikings, the North’s top seed, swept Gardendale and then swept Austin of Decatur to reach the championship match without dropping a set. Austin had eliminated Saraland in a five-set first-round match.

Maxwell: “I’m never tired of this team”

Spanish Fort’s schedule is long and demanding, and Maxwell said people often ask her how the team keeps from wearing down.

“We put so many countless hours in this,” she said. “I have so many people come up and ask me, ‘Why do y’all play so many games? It’s got to get tiring. You’ve got to get tired.’ I’m never tired of this team. Getting to come out and play with this team, there’s so much connection because when you spend that many hours, and then you come out to this court and you give your heart out for that last game, and your team is just surrounding you.”

“It’s the best feeling in the whole entire world,” she continued. “We spent so many hours together, and getting to do it with your best friends, they’re family.”

Asked to name her favorite part of the season, Maxwell said winning would top the list, but she also pointed to time with teammates in hotel rooms and on bus rides. She said she also valued being tested. During the state tournament, she said, she had a stretch in which opponents shut her down, something she had not experienced often.

“I also love when we’re put in hard situations,” Maxwell said. “Yesterday, I was getting shut down, and that I haven’t felt that a lot. I think that was part of my favorite part because I got to actually see how I can work on things.”

A final season coaching her daughter

The championship carried extra meaning for the Boykin family. Thursday’s final was the last match Gretchen Boykin will coach her daughter, Cailyn, who is a senior. The coach admitted she spent much of the year trying not to think about it.

“Obviously, I get to coach my daughter, which is special for the last time, and I think I’ve tried to act like it’s not happening,” Boykin said. “I didn’t post anything on social media all year long because I’m like, ‘Well, if I don’t post it, it’s not really happening, right? It’s not official.’ But obviously, that’s a hard one.”

Boykin said she has known many of her players for years and would not trade this group for any other.

“All of these girls, I’ve known a lot of them for a long time, and Delaney, I haven’t known as long, but we have fun. It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “Every single person inside and out, and I would never trade for another team ever, win or lose.”

Cailyn Boykin said the championship hats the team has collected kept her motivated through every practice.

“I know they’re just items, but they really keep me like, ‘This is what I’m working for,’” she said. “And I know I wanted one last one of these, so I’m glad I got it.”

Jasper proud of its season

Jasper finished 45-10. The Vikings were chasing their first state championship since they won back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019, and they came into this season motivated by a five-set loss to Hazel Green in last year’s tournament.

“We’re all really proud of the year we had,” Jasper senior Allie Rigsby said. “Obviously, we came here and we wanted to win and we fell short, but we had a really great season, and we had a really good time.”

Allie Rigsby led Jasper with 17 kills and three aces. Addison Black had a match-high 23 digs and five assists, and Emma Rigsby finished with 39 assists and three aces. Carly Jo Stephenson added 10 kills and Isabella Roper had nine. Allie Rigsby, Emma Rigsby and Stephenson were named to the all-tournament team.

Jasper coach Kellye Bowen credited her senior class for building the program’s culture. “They’ve all played together for so long, but they really, really stepped up in a leadership category,” she said.

Baldwin County’s championship fall

Spanish Fort’s title capped a strong week for teams from Mobile and Baldwin counties in Birmingham. McGill-Toolen swept Briarwood Christian on Wednesday to win the first Private Class AA championship, Mobile Christian reached the Private Class A final, and Orange Beach played Guntersville for the Class 4A championship later Thursday, the Makos’ first appearance in a state final.

The AHSAA’s public-private split, announced earlier this year, changed the look of the volleyball postseason. Private schools now compete for their own titles in Private Class A and Private Class AA, while public schools play in Classes 1A through 6A. Spanish Fort was one of several programs that found itself in a new bracket because of the change, and like McGill-Toolen, it carried its winning streak into its new classification.

G.W. Long wins Class 2A crown

Elsewhere Thursday at Bill Harris Arena, G.W. Long of Skipperville swept Carbon Hill 25-14, 25-18, 25-14 to win the Class 2A championship. The Rebels (39-4) had reached the state tournament in three of the previous four seasons without winning a title. Thursday’s victory gave the school its second volleyball championship and its first since 2019, both under head coach Craig Long.

“We’ve been close every year. I just wanted to get back so they can get to see what it feels like,” Long said.

Kaylie Foster was named tournament MVP after recording 17 kills, three aces and nine digs. Sophie Grace Stevens added nine kills and eight digs, Sawyer Hughes had 31 assists, and senior Brooklyn Head finished with seven aces and 15 digs. “This was our goal, and we achieved it,” Head said.

Carbon Hill (39-9) reached the state tournament for the first time since 2018. Coach Grayson Wideman noted that the Bulldogs went 8-32 in 2024, her first season, and that this year’s seniors played key roles on that team before leading the turnaround. Mia Henslee had six kills, Jenna Wright added five, Laila Dunham had 15 digs and Kaidence Jones had 14 assists. “They should be extremely proud to be here,” Wideman said.

By the numbers

• Final: Spanish Fort def. Jasper 25-21, 25-27, 25-15, 25-23
• Titles: Third straight, sixth since 2015
• Losses: Three all season; 17-match winning streak to finish
• Tournament MVP: Natalie Maxwell, 13 kills, four blocks
• Service aces: 20 for Spanish Fort, including seven each by Cailyn Boykin and Delaney Duncan
• All-tournament team: Maxwell, Cayden Dorger, Delaney Duncan and Cailyn Boykin of Spanish Fort; Allie Rigsby, Emma Rigsby and Carly Jo Stephenson of Jasper