SPANISH FORT — Entering her senior volleyball season for the Spanish Fort Toros, Taylor Ishmael considered hanging up her shoes and not playing because of a nagging shoulder injury. Without plans of ascending to the next level, Ishmael sought guidance.

“I prayed a lot about it. And I don't know, something just told me I needed to play,” Ishmael said last Wednesday evening. “So I went through with that decision, and now here we are with a Blue Map.”

The outside hitter took an extra piece of hardware home as the State Championship MVP following Spanish Fort’s sweep of Pelham in the Class 6A finals on Oct. 30 in Birmingham cemented her reasoning to play.

“Just being a captain and leading this team has been super special,” Ishmael said. “I think getting that MVP meant the world to me because all of my hard work has finally paid off.”

A fitting end to a career

Ishmael fittingly sealed the match with her team-best 13th kill of the contest to secure a 25-19 win in the third set and send the Toro faithful into a frenzy before the team dogpiled at center court. She added 8 digs as Spanish Fort took home its fourth volleyball state title in program history.

“Get the ball on the ground. Just get the ball on the ground and it took all of me. I feel like I just emptied my tank on that one, and it resulted in a state championship,” Ishmael said of her pre-hit thoughts. “As soon as that ball hit the court, it was just like everything we've been working for all season, it was worth it. Every practice, every lift that we had together; it just felt so real and we had earned, all of us.”

‘More Than Me’

That team bond was bolstered by their team motto, “More Than Me,” where Ishmael said the Toro volleyball players only grew closer together as the year wore on.

“I think we all put it in God's hands. I think our faith has definitely grown as a team, and we pray before every single game. I think that's really what brought us together as a team, and it was all out, one hundred percent all the time,” Ishmael said. “Never give up on a ball, because you don't know if you can’t get it unless you try. And I think going all-out and playing for something bigger than ourselves, I think that's what won the game.”

From her head coaching position, Gretchen Boykin agreed this year’s team had a special bond. That cohesiveness showed on the court when needed most as Spanish Fort swept all three of its matches at the state tournament.

“They went in with a mission and they never wavered. I think all throughout the year, you would see times when we'd make errors and you could see the change in demeanor,” Boykin said last Wednesday. “But these last two days, that was not there. It was just pure determination that we're going to win. They didn't let errors bother them, they just moved on to the next point, and in every situation we found a way to pull through.”

Toro pride rings loud

While the championship welcome party was not new to Boykin, who also returned to The Hill with state volleyball titles in 2015, 2018 and 2019, the community support shown on Wednesday evening when the Toros returned to town told her all she needed to know.

“It's always so nice to have support from the school, the community, the parents; they are living it up just as much as the kids are, because they put so much in,” Boykin said. “We could not run this program if it weren't for the parents and everything they do, so we appreciate everything they do.”

For Ishmael, her community pride was cemented when the team was leaving for the state tournament and got a sendoff from students at Spanish Fort High, Middle and Elementary Schools.

“We knew leaving and walking through all the schools, that we had a community behind our back and that we were going to play for our community,” Ishmael said. “Coming back to see the community here when we got back, was so surreal and so special.”

Standard met, but only the beginning

The head coach mentioned that with the youth on this year’s team, Boykin hoped to only continue adding to the trophy case.

“We've set a standard; every year we're there, every year we know we're going to compete. I had four freshmen with us this trip and I took a picture with them and said, ‘Y'all, we want four of these,’” Boykin recounted. “I think what's really cool is that the freshmen and the sophomores and even the juniors that were with us, they saw what it took to be locked in and to know how to go into a state tournament and win. I think that can be huge for the future.”

Ishamel’s state championship dreams started when she was an eighth grader and saw the Toros win their second-consecutive Blue Map trophy in 2019. Four short years later, she lived it out.

“I really just wanted to be in the same position, it made me work to become a better athlete and to better myself because I wanted to be out there,” Ishmael said.

Money quotes

“I've said ever since the summer that I've enjoyed every day with them. They're great kids, they have just been so much fun to coach. And you can't always say that about a team,” Boykin said. “Every day, we just would get after it in practice, but they were fun and worked hard at the same time.”

“So surreal. I've been on varsity all four years, and I feel like I've been working all four years toward this one moment,” Ishmael said. “Coming home as a state champion is just something that's unexplainable.”