State volleyball: Strong start for Oxford, but Spanish Fort advances

Oct. 26—BIRMINGHAM — One set into Oxford's first appearance in the state volleyball tournament in six years, it looked like the Yellow Jackets would stay awhile.

Third-ranked Spanish Fort fought Oxford off.

Senior Abbie Mitchell had a team-high 13 kills, and senior Sadie Grace Morrison added a team-hgh six blocks, but Oxford fell 25-20, 17-25, 21-25, 14-25 in Wednesday's Class 6A quarterfinal round at Birmingham CrossPlex.

Spanish Fort (45-16) advanced to the semifinals to face Pelham.

Oxford (24-25) made its second Elite 8 appearance in Class 6A and first since 2016, when the Yellow Jackets broke a 12-year state drought. The Yellow Jackets advanced to state with a top-four finish at the North Regional.

"The growth that we've had since July with this group, none of these kids have been to a regional tournament since COVID and all of that stuff," Oxford coach Wendy McKibbin said. "I couldn't be prouder of this team than I am right now."

Oxford got off to a promising start, winning the first set, but Spanish Fort answered with a 16-5 start to the second set.

The Yellow Jackets battled back, but Spanish Fort kept volley after volley alive.

"The kids played lights out the first three sets," McKibbin said. "The fourth set, we kind of gave up the last 10 or 12 points."

Besides Mitchell and Morrison, other top performers for Oxford were as follows:

—JaMea Gaston: 14 digs.

—Payton Brooks: eight digs, 28 assists.

—Ashlyn Burns: six digs.

—Kaelyn Crossley: 10 digs.

—Arilyn Pool: seven digs.

—Daelyn Bozeman: three digs, two kills.

—Mileah Prince: 7 kills. 2 blocks

—Jaslyn Montgomery: six kills, two blocks.

Oxford will lose two seniors, Mitchell and Morrison.

"We've grown a lot, as a team and as individuals," Morrison said. "I'm more proud of this year than I think I've ever been, and Oxford is going to do great things in the future."

Sports Writer Joe Medley: 256-235-3576. On Twitter: @jmedley_star.