In a battle of Spartans, it was the mountainous variety taking home another Blue Map while the other is bound to the coast.

The top-ranked Mountain Brook Spartans dropped a highly-competitive third set but held on for a 3-1 victory over fifth-ranked Saraland, 25-15, 25-14, 26-28 and 25-15, in the 2023 AHSAA Class 6A title match Wednesday at Birmingham’s Bill Harris Arena.

“I just want to give all the credit to Saraland, they are really well-coached and had to fight some big battles on their way into state,” Mountain Brook coach Mattie Gardner said. “I am so tremendously proud of our group of girls, and I broke the rules. I’m going to get emotional because these six seniors have been instrumental from Day 1. And that’s all I can get out right now.”

Mountain Brook (46-5) earns its seventh volleyball title in program history and first since winning three straight from 2019 to 2021. The Spartans went 9-3 throughout the tournament and ended the nation’s longest state title streak Tuesday with a 3-2 win over Bayside Academy, who won 21 straight state titles across five different classifications.

“We celebrated and then this morning we put it straight ahead knowing we had to play Saraland, who beat Bayside before,” Charli Pearce said. “We knew we were going to have to play to the best of our abilities today.”

Hannah Parant was named Class 6A tournament MVP after registering 35 assists, 10 kills, 10 digs and two aces in the championship match, bringing her three-day assist total to more than 100 assists. Parant’s twin sister, Paige, finished with 11 digs and a pair of aces.

“We set a goal at the beginning of the season and were so determined to get our state title back,” Parant said. “We’re going to do anything throughout the whole season. We’re going to work as hard as we can to win and get to this moment. Everyone on the team did such amazing jobs of fully committing themselves to the process and obviously, it works.”

Mountain Brook broke a 10-10 tie in the first set with a 15-5 closing run and quickly dispatched Saraland in the second building an 18-7 advantage and matching points for the remainder of the set.

The third set saw both teams battle tooth and nail before Saraland took a 24-21 lead near the end of the frame. Mountain Brook scored three straight points to take a 25-24 lead but Saraland rallied behind the championship point to win the set 28-26 and force a fourth.

“Well basically, coach said that we are forged by fire,” Alice Garzon said. “We knew we had experienced a set like that where we came back after losing the third set. We had to come back extra strong and, basically having the upper hand, we needed to use it again to our advantage to beat them.”

Despite dropping the third set, Mountain Brook broke open the final set with five straight points to take a 13-7 advantage over Saraland. Mountain Brook allowed Saraland to pull within three points but powered ahead on a 6-0 run before closing out the match with a 25-15 win in the final set.

Garzon led Mountain Brook with 15 kills, followed by Annie Lacey with 10 kills, and Mae Beatty had 10 digs and nine kills. Lacey’s twin sister, Mae Lacey, had seven kills, and Ella Kate Wright had 26 digs and five assists. Ava Gillis contributed nine digs.

For Saraland, Hannah Pearce led the way with 10 kills and seven digs, and Lily Willingham had eight kills. Charli Pearce had 13 digs, seven kills and four aces, and Bre Hughes had 15 digs. Elena Pugh posted five digs, five kills and six aces, and Sophia Saxon had 30 assists, 10 digs and four kills.

Joining Parant on the All-Tournament team were teammates Garzon and Wright, along with Saraland’s Hughes and Charli and Hannah Pearce.

All matches of the 53rd AHSAA Elite Eight State Volleyball Championships are being live-streamed over the NFHS Network subscriber-based platform and can be accessed at www.nfhsnetwork.com.