Five Birmingham Region high school volleyball teams won to the AHSAA Elite Eight State Championship Tournament this season.

Class 7A Thompson earned a spot in the title match before falling to McGill-Toolen while Hewitt-Trussville lost to Thompson in semifinal action.

Other teams reaching the final four were Class 6A Spain Park and Class 5A Briarwood while Class 6A Homewood tell in first round play.

The Birmingham News All-Region team is comprised of players from Jefferson and Shelby counties, and compiled by the AL.com high school sports staff with input from coaches.

AL.com named Player of the Year, Attacker MVP, Defensive MVP, Setter MVP and Coach of the Year. Award winners are listed separately, but considered first-team selections.

BIRMINGHAM NEWS ALL-REGION VOLLEYBALL TEAM

(Players listed alphabetically)

Sydnie Broom, Hoover

6-1, Sr., Middle

244 kills, region-best 109 blocks, 74 digs, 27 aces

College: Undecided

Christiana Callens, Hewitt-Trussville

5-6, So., Libero

544 digs, 158 assists, 54 aces

College: Undecided

Kamryn Coleman, Homewood

5-8, Jr., Setter/Right Side

791 assists, 119 kills, 24 blocks, 242 digs, 103 aces, region-best 2.4 aces per match

College: Undecided

Lucy Comer, Mountain Brook

5-10, So., Outside Hitter

313 kills, 17 blocks, 291 digs, 45 aces

College: Undecided

Johnna Cox, Hewitt-Trussville

6-0, So., Outside Hitter

466 kills, 31 blocks, 272 digs, 47 aces

College: Undecided

Clara Crawford, Briarwood

5-9, Sr., Middle

223 kills, 67 blocks, 214 digs, 72 aces

College: Undecided

Bristol Hannah, Pelham

5-5, So., Setter

784 assists, 38 kills, 14 blocks, 227 digs, 40 aces

College: Undecided

Marion Haskell, John Carroll

6-1, Sr., Right Side

416 kills, 67 blocks, 88 digs, 25 assists, 42 aces

College: Bucknell

Maddy Henderson, Thompson

6-0, Jr., Setter/Right Side

616 assists, 414 kills, 61 blocks, 323 digs, 85 aces

College: Undecided

Zoe Jones, Montevallo

6-0, Sr., Outside Hitter

Region second-best 498 kills, region-best 14.23 kills per match, 230 digs, 77 aces

College: Wallace-Hanceville

Sullivan Lell, Mountain Brook

5-4, Jr., Libero

477 digs, 84 assists, 50 aces

College: Southern Mississippi

Ja’Niyah Mosley, Spain Park

5-9, Sr., Middle

278 kills, 75 blocks

College: Undecided

Kayleigh Nguyen, Hewitt-Trussville

5-10, Jr., Setter

983 assists, tied region second-best 23.4 assists per match, 192 kills, 66 blocks, 389 digs, 63 aces

College: Undecided

Mae Noerager, Homewood

6-1, Sr., Right Side

222 kills, 49 blocks, 47 digs

College: Trinity (Texas)

Aliyah Pooler, Hoover

5-10, Sr., Outside Hitter

271 kills, 25 blocks, 268 digs, 37 aces

College: Alabama State

Alexis Rudolph, Chelsea

6-1, Jr., Outside Hitter

Region-best 511 kills, region second-best 12.17 kills per match, 41 blocks, 298 digs, 25 assists, 61 aces

College: Undecided

Aubrie Smith, Pelham

5-9, Sr., Outside Hitter

357 kills, 24 blocks, 241 digs, 49 aces

College: Undecided

Noelle Suellentrop, Briarwood

5-11, So., Setter

Region second-best 1,076 assists, tied region second-best 23.4 assists per match, 66 kills, 33 blocks, 252 digs, 68 aces

College: Undecided

Abby Tingle, Hoover

6-1, Jr., Outside Hitter

310 kills, 63 blocks, 70 digs

College: South Alabama

Bea Wiggins, Spain Park

5-11, Sr., Outside Hitter

487 kills, 44 blocks, 353 digs, 55 aces

College: Sewanee

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Julie Roberts, Briarwood

5-10, Jr., Outside Hitter/Right Side

436 kills, 38 blocks, 258 digs, 61 assists, 97 aces

College: Undecided

ATTACKER MVP

Millie Burgess, Vestavia Hills

6-1, Sr., Outside Hitter

424 kills, 42 blocks, 294 digs, 43 aces

College: Jacksonville State

DEFENSIVE MVP

Kenzly Foote, Thompson

5-7, Sr., Defensive Specialist

Region second-best 673 digs, region second-best 14.96 digs per match, 151 assists, region-best 104 aces, region second-best 2.31 aces per match

College: Undecided

SETTER MVP

Cailyn Kyes, Spain Park

5-7, Sr., Setter

Region-best 1,144 assists, region-best 24.34 assists per match, 94 kills, 36 blocks, 344 digs, 66 aces

College: Trevecca

COACH OF THE YEAR

Judy Green, Thompson

HONORABLE MENTION

Outside Hitter/Right Side: Leighton Hendley, Briarwood, So.; Helen Morrison, Briarwood, Fr.; Mady Kirkpatrick , John Carroll, Sr.; Hunter Jordan, Montevallo, Sr.; Claire Ogden, Vestavia Hills, Sr.; Layne Moller, Chelsea, So.; Reese Wolfe, Hewitt-Trussville, Sr.; Sarah Johnson, Homewood, Sr.; Adele Moffatt, Mountain Brook, Jr.; Lakhair Yellock, Parker, Sr.; Peyton Harrington, Spain Park, So.

Middle: Brielle Merriweather, Thompson, Jr.; Marley Cowan, Vestavia Hills, Sr.

Setter: Addison Jenkins, Hoover, Sr.; Jayla Green, Thompson, So.; Isabella Marino, John Carroll, Sr.; Wendy McGehee, Shelby County, Sr.; Darby Rhodes, Mountain Brook, So.

Defensive Specialist/Libero: Lillie Hill, Vestavia Hills, Jr.; Sophia Bagley, Chelsea, Sr.; Addison Wood, Homewood, Jr.; Camdyn Kyes, Spain Park, Fr.; Cheyenne Conner, Hoover, Sr.

Kopacz spent two seasons at Colorado State as the lead defensive coach, implementing an opportunistic style of play and mindset focused on improving team defense. The Rams went from last in the conference in opponent hitting efficiency in 2023, to first in both 2024 (.190) and 2025 (.187). Among his individual work included daily practice planning focusing on blocking, team defense, middle/setter offense and overall team development, mapping individual development plans for each athlete.

 

The Rams’ defensive success propelled Colorado State to both the 2024 Mountain West Conference regular season and tournament championship, earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament Berth since 2019. He guided 2024 AVCA All-American Malaya Jones during the run, while Jones and Emery Herman both recorded AVCA All-Region honors.

 

He also served as the head coach of the 2024 Mountain West All-Star team that finished as the Silver Medalists at the Global Challenge Tournament held in Pula, Croatia.

 

Prior to the Rams, Kopacz spent the last two seasons as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at the University of Nebraska Omaha. At Omaha, he mentored the setter position and assisted in the development of offensive game-plans. Kopacz helped Omaha to their first D1 NCAA tournament appearance and first Summit League Championship in 2023. His work with the program included mentoring AVCA All-American McKenna Ruch, while also helping guide Ruch and Shayla McCormick to AVCA All-Region honors.

Kopacz started his college coaching career at the University of Colorado in January of 2021 as a Volunteer Assistant Coach. With the Buffaloes, he assisted with the training of first contact and floor defense and helped design scouting reports and prepare the scout team.

The Libertyville, Illinois native played club volleyball at Indiana University where he was a captain and earned All-Big Ten and All-MIVA honors. Kopacz graduated from Indiana with a degree in Informatics and Computing with a specialty in Sports Marketing and Management.

After graduation from Indiana in 2016, he worked in Benefits Administration, most recently as a Senior Account Manager at bswift, while consulting for several different clubs and high school teams in the Chicagoland area.

 

Catholic junior Mia Kinney doesn’t mind playing out of her club and college position for the Lady Irish volleyball team.

She is an offensive force as an outside hitter and is a six-rotation player for Catholic.

Yet Kinney will play defense in college, signing scholarship papers to play libero or defensive specialist at Vanderbilt.

And that’s her focus during Catholic’s offseason for volleyball, which is in-season for Kinney at K2 Volleyball.

“I’m just trying to get a little bit more polished in my libero position,” said Kinney, the 2025 5Star Preps Volleyball Player of the Year, “just because pretty much my entire volleyball career I’ve just been doing different things, and just playing whatever (position) my team needs me to.”

Her versatility and talent were a big reason Catholic (25-10) had another big season in 2025.

Kinney combined powerful hitting (332 kills) with her setting (68 assists), defense (239 digs), serving (72 aces), and excellent passing in leading the Lady Irish to the Division II-AA Final Four.

Catholic coach Brent Carter said he’s able to use Kinney’s versatility because his senior libero, Nora James, has similar talents like Kinney.

“We get creative and move our libero around because our libero (James) is also a very skilled player,” Carter said. “Sometimes, our libero is playing left-back defense and sometimes she’s playing middle-back defense, so it gives us a nuance to where we put Mia, and it gives us an attacking threat out of the back row.”

Kinney’s passing is uncanny, too, and it was on full display at the state tournament, where the Lady Irish endured an emotional rollercoaster.

Catholic staved off elimination with a 3-0 victory over Chattanooga Baylor on Oct. 21 in their second Final Four match of the day, then lost on Oct. 22 to Christ Presbyterian Academy of Nashville by a 3-0 set score.

In the loss to CPA, Kinney’s passing rating was 2.82 on the 3.0 scale used for volleyball passing statistics; Carter raved about her passing in the season ending match.

“To knock Baylor out in a sweep was like a big deal to our kids emotionally,” Carter said, “and we just could not get it together against CPA. We needed to be passing well like we normally pass, and we just weren’t, but Kinney still passed a .282 in that match. And a .282 is best in the world. It’s unbelievable.”

Kinney transferred to Catholic from Baylor before the 2024-25 school year, earning All-5Star Preps first-team honors as the Lady Irish reached the state sectionals (quarterfinals).

Her sister, Elli, and brother, Cooper, are graduates of Baylor.

Elli (2023 Baylor graduate) is a junior libero for Vanderbilt’s volleyball team and Cooper (2021 Baylor graduate) is an infielder with the Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball organization.

Mia’s transfer to Catholic was a natural move because she was playing full-time with K2 Volleyball while attending Baylor in Chattanooga.

“It’s helped me out in so many different ways, and I’m really glad we made that decision,” she said of going to Catholic.

Kinney committed to Vanderbilt on June 15 of this year. While Elli was influential in Mia’s decision, she didn’t push Mia toward Vanderbilt.

“She loves it (Vanderbilt), and she just really helped me out through the whole recruiting process,” Mia said. “She didn’t pressure me in any way at all, but she was just there and really helpful for me. She really loves Vandy and I kind of got to see the inside scoop of that, so it was a pretty easy decision for me.”

Kinney said the 2025 season was a thrill for her and the Lady Irish, and she looks forward to another postseason run in 2026.

“I think there’s a bit of a reputation for volleyball at Catholic,” Kinney said.

Carter expects Kinney to take another critical role next season. He said Kinney is the most competitive player he’s coached in almost 10 years, when he coached Kamila Cieslik, a 2017 Catholic graduate who played five years at Rutgers.

“Nobody anywhere competes like (Kinney), and it’s mostly with herself,” Carter said. “She wants to be better every single time she touches the ball, and we haven’t had a kid like her since Kamila Cieslik, in 2016. Just a died-in-the-wool competitor, and here’s the thing nobody would question: She is the team leader.

“After every point, she is the one saying the right things, doing the right things. What she and I spent the most time on was how to handle those situations, and the management of each kid, how they needed to be managed out on the floor. So not only was it a players’ team instead of just a coaches’ team, and it was great.”

Article written by Dave Link/5Star Preps. To read more on area high school sports or to see photo galleries, videos, stat leaders, etc., visit 5StarPreps.com — and use promo code New2025 for 30% off your first year or month subscription.

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Avery Elizabeth Merritt, born Feb. 27, 2009, embodied the best parts of all of us. The beloved daughter to Russell Merritt and Tina Dombroski, younger sister to Jackson Merritt and Nathan Young, and cherished granddaughter to Janice Merritt, journeyed beyond this world Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025.

Avery was the glue that connected our lives. She saw through pretenses and offered advice with a depth of insight and clarity far beyond her 16 years.

Her natural creativity was boundless, and throughout her life, she produced incredible sketches, paintings, sculpture, jewelry, clothing, written stories, and culinary delights. Her attention to detail was evident in everything she did, completing even the simplest tasks with an artistic whimsy or a deeply thoughtful purpose.

Avery had a profound love for animals and was pursuing a future in veterinary medicine. She devotedly cared for her dog Lucy, her cats River Forrest and Terra, and her hamster Seuss. Her “heart horse” was Miley, with whom she shared an incredible bond of loving, trust and understanding. Together, they had become a fearless duo completing high jumps, courses, and liberty work. Avery competed in many equestrian shows and received numerous ribbons and accolades. 

Avery’s natural curiosity of the world around her also included plants and herbology. She often grew plants from clippings or seeds to create natural products and art, many times drawing her inspiration from Native American culture.

Avery loved an engaging story and enjoyed reading books, listening to podcasts about a wide range of topics from true crime to indie music to survivalism. She was a true aficionado of SpongeBob SquarePants as well as the Breaking Bad series.  Despite living in an age of online content, she had an innate ability to remain connected in the present moment. To say she was nonconformist by nature would be an understatement. She was a truly special person in so many ways but did not like to receive attention for her exceptionalism. She was also academically gifted, excelling in all subjects, especially math, science, and literature.  

Avery also shared a love for volleyball and grew her skills while playing for Premier travel teams, Sandsharks beach team and Sussex Technical High School. The friendships she gained through these leagues were meaningful to her, and the shared experiences of victory, loss, and growth made a great positive influence in her life

Avery was taken from this world far too early, leaving before her full potential was ever realized. Her family will never allow the beauty of her life to be overshadowed by the tragedy of her death and will honor her with every beat of their collectively heavy hearts.

A viewing will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, Tuesday, Jan. 6, at Watson Funeral Home and Crematorium, 211 S. Washington St., Millsboro. A funeral service will follow at noon. Burial will be private. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Avery’s name to feast-ed.org, an organization dedicated to bringing awareness and support to loved ones suffering from the illness of an eating disorder.  

Visit Avery’s Life Tribute webpage and sign her online guest book at watsonfh.com.