By Lee Davis
When Sara Chandler Mitchell meets someone for the first time, she has only one request.
Please don’t call her Sara.
“It’s Sara Chandler,” she said, when contacted last week. “I know it’s a little unique for a double name, but I like to use them both.”
Mitchell’s first name combination may be unusual, but she and her teammates became household names in the volleyball world last October when Mountain Brook won its first-ever Class 7A state title. Mitchell was never better than in the championship final against Hoover, chalking up 38 assists from her setter position in the Lady Spartans’ 3-1 upset victory.
“Looking back, it was an incredible run,” Mitchell said. “To be the first team from Mountain Brook ever to win a volleyball championship is something we can have pride in. But we can’t live in the past. This is a new year and a new team.”
There’s reason to believe that the Lady Spartans are capable of earning a second consecutive blue trophy. Julia Smith, Mountain Brook’s outstanding defensive specialist from last season, has graduated but plenty of talent returns. Sara Carr – the Most Valuable Player of last year’s state tournament – and Payton Selman join Mitchell to form a strong senior nucleus.
“It’s easy to look at who we lost, but we’ve also got a lot of good players coming back,” Mitchell said. “We don’t have any freshmen on the varsity so there’s a lot of experience on the roster. It’s up to the seniors to provide the leadership we need to be our best.”
Mitchell said that, as defending state champs, the Lady Spartans have a figurative target on their backs, but they have embraced the challenge.
“We have T-shirts with a big target on them,” she said. “Because we are the champions, all of our opponents have us circled on the schedule. We won’t have any easy nights. Every team we play will give us their best shot because it will be a highlight of their season to beat us.”
Mountain Brook opened the 2015 season on a strong note. The Lady Spartans finished second in a large field in the prestigious Juanita Boddie Tournament last week and followed that effort with an impressive sweep of Thompson.
“I’m really excited about where we are at this point,” Mitchell said. “There are so many good teams in the Boddie Tournament, the fact we finished second was an excellent start. I’m hoping that the confidence we got from that will help us the rest of the way.”
As one of the finest setters in Alabama, Mitchell realizes that much of Mountain Brook’s ability to score will rest on her shoulders. She said the key to success at that vital position is a mix of skill and controlled intensity.
“If I can’t improve on my teammates’ passes, my hitters won’t be able to execute,” Mitchell explained. “So it’s important to take ownership as someone who is going to have their hands on the ball in every point-scoring situation and do everything I can to make sure we have success.”
Keeping a cool head at all times is just as important.
“I think demeanor on the court is as important as anything,” she said. “Volleyball is a high-intensity sport. As a setter, I have to be a calming voice. It’s easy to get caught up in a blur when everything is so fast-paced, so it’s important to keep energy up, but also to reel it in. It’s easy to be loud and jumping around when you’re scoring points, but what do you do when things aren’t going your way? One of the great things about our team is that we know how to step back and say, ‘Let’s get these points back one at a time’ without panicking.”
Often a setter has to play the role of a coach on the court. “Sometimes it’s necessary to lay down the law,” Mitchell said. “My team knows I can be tough when I need to be.”
Mountain Brook coach Haven O’Quinn may be Mitchell’s biggest fan. “I think she’s our silent superstar,” she said. “Nine times out of ten she puts the ball exactly where it’s supposed to be.”
Mitchell feels the same way about her coach. “Playing for coach O’Quinn is the biggest blessing,” she said. “Coach is very good at keeping us focused. She works us extremely hard, but she makes the game fun, too. The main thing is that she has so much passion for volleyball.”
“Passion” is probably a word that would apply to Mitchell. She played volleyball along with softball and basketball as a pre-teen and by sixth grade decided to go exclusively with volleyball.
“I just fell in love with it,” she said. “I knew that it was the right sport for me.”
Mitchell – who first played on the varsity as a freshman – admits to having mixed emotions about her senior year.
“It’s really surreal that this is my last year at Mountain Brook,” she said. “I’ve been playing with so many of these girls since fifth grade. I can’t believe that it’s all over after this season. It seems like yesterday when I was a nervous freshman playing varsity for the first time.”
Mitchell said that one of the proudest legacies she and her class have established is an increased interest in volleyball at the youth level at Mountain Brook and other communities.
“A few years ago I would work at summer volleyball camps and we’d have maybe 30 girls, and half of them had probably never played the game in their lives,” she recalled. “Last summer we had about 70. Honestly, I’d like to think that the success that we’ve had lately (an Elite Eight appearance in 2013 and the state title in 2014) are a big reason for the increase.”
College volleyball isn’t on Mitchell’s radar, which is all the more reason she wants her senior year to be special.
“It would be nice to win another championship, but that’s not the goal,” she said. “The most important thing is playing to our potential.”
No matter what happens in 2015, Mitchell’s name is secure as one of the all-time greats of Mountain Brook volleyball. And please call her Sara Chandler.
