Viva Libero!: Hoover’s Durban Earns OTM Volleyball Player of the Year Honor

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Members of the 2024 OTMJ All-OTM Volleyball Team are, from left, front: Clara Crawford, Briarwood Christian; Olivia Guenster, Hoover; Sydney Durban, Hoover; Emerson Buck, Homewood; and Ella Kate Wright, Mountain Brook. Middle: Julie Roberts, Briarwood Christian; Mae Mae Beatty, Mountain Brook; Grace Stewart, Mountain Brook; Cali Ahmed, Homewood; Aliyah Pooler, Hoover; and Layla Smith, Hoover. Back: Sydnie Broom, Hoover; Aubrie Lay, Oak Mountain; Ava Scott Windham, Vestavia Hills; Jordan Madsen, Vestavia Hills; and Marion Haskell, John Carroll Catholic. Not pictured: Mille Burgess, Vestavia Hills; Caroline Whitehurst, Oak Mountain; Mary Noerager, Homewood; Alexa Benda, Spain Park; Cailyn Kyes, Spain Park

By Rubin E. Grant

When it comes to player of the year honors, defensive players usually have to take a backseat to offensive players.

But that wasn’t the case this year. Hoover senior libero Sydney Durban moved to the front seat.

Durban was voted the 2024 OTM Volleyball Player of the Year in balloting of Over the Mountain coaches.

“I’m super grateful because usually these honors go to the hitters, the ones doing the scoring,” Durban said. “So this is a big honor with it going to a libero.”

Durban recorded 870 digs, 124 assists, 37 aces, helping the Bucs reach the Class 7A semifinals and finish with a 40-11 record. She finished her high school career with 1,940 digs.

Hoover coach Amanda Wood was thrilled that Durban’s defensive prowess was recognized.

“I’m very excited that her hard work has been noticed by the other OTM coaches,” Wood said. “Very rarely do defensive players get those type of honors. It’s a huge honor for her.

“She is so gritty. She was very strong in serve receive and an integral part of our defensive success.”

Durban was pleased with her performance this season, although it didn’t result in a state championship. The Bucs were eliminated in the semifinals 3-1 by eventual champion McGill-Toolen Catholic, which claimed its third consecutive Class 7A crown.

“I think the season went really well,” Durban said. “We didn’t get the outcome we wanted, but we fought really hard and we improved throughout the season. The girls played for each other. We had great team chemistry.”

“I’m going to miss the girls because I played with most of them for years in several sports.”

The 5-foot-6 Durban was one of nine seniors on the Bucs’ roster, but she’s the only one who plans to play in college. She signed with the University of Alabama in Huntsville earlier this month. Her mother, Michelle Durban, and older sister, Aly Durban, also played in college, at Indiana and Samford, respectively.

Wood said Durban’s passion for the sport is what she’s going to miss most.

“It’s her work ethic and drive to continue to improve,” Wood said.

Durban heads the 2024 All-OTM Volleyball team, which includes four of her Hoover teammates — outside hitter Layla Smith, right side hitter Aliyah Pooler, middle hitter Sydnie Broom and defensive specialist Olivia Guenster.

Smith had 503 kills, 181 digs, 61 assists and 77 blocks; Pooler had 231 kills, 79 blocks and 69 digs; Broom had 180 kills and 153 blocks; and Guenster had 569 digs, 259 kills, 109 aces and 28 blocks.

Class 7A semifinalist Vestavia Hills landed three players on the team — outside hitter Millie Burgess, right side hitter Jordan Madsen and middle hitter Ava Scott Windham. Burgess had 566 kills, 313 digs, 42 aces and 36 blocks this season; Madsen had 325 kills, 123 digs and 47 blocks; and Windham tallied 107 kills, 51 blocks, 72 digs and 26 aces.

Mountain Brook also had three players voted to the team — outside hitter Mae Mae Beatty, setter Grace Stewart and libero Ella Kate Wright. Beatty tallied 462 kills, 281 digs, 61 aces, 23 assists and 20 blocks; Stewart had 847 assists, 214 digs, 68 kills, 48 aces and 30 blocks; and Wright had 384 digs, 59 assists and 26 aces.

Homewood placed three players on the team — right side hitter Mae Noerager, middle hitter Cali Armstead and defensive specialist Emerson Buck. Noerager had a 2.0 serve receive rating, 123 kills, a plus-0.210 hitting percentage, 38 digs and 41 blocks; Armstead had 14 aces, 91 kills, a plus-0.251 hitting percentage, 20 digs, 67 blocks and 11 assists; and Buck had 20 aces, a 2.20 serve receive rating, 35 assists and 225 digs.

Spain Park, Oak Mountain and Briarwood each had two players selected.

Representing Spain Park are middle hitter Alexa Benda and setter Cailyn Kyes. Benda recorded 279 kills, 112 blocks, 28 aces, 72 digs and had a .326 hitting percentage. Kyes had 895 assists, 334 digs, 67 aces, 75 kills and 21 blocks.

Oak Mountain’s players are outside hitter Caroline Whitehurst and middle hitter Aubrie Lay. Whitehurst tallied 391 kills, 322 digs and 61 aces. Lay had 189 kills and 73 blocks.

Briarwood’s representatives are outside hitter Julie Roberts and middle hitter Clara Crawford. Roberts tallied 304 kills, 183 digs, 23 assists, 19 blocks and 87 aces. Crawford had 171 kills, 157 digs and 56 blocks.

Rounding out the team is John Carroll Catholic’s right side hitter Marion Haskell. She recorded 306 kills, 42 blocks and 39 aces.

Coach of the Year

Vestavia Hills’ Ashley Hardee was voted 2024 OTM Volleyball Coach of the Year after leading the Rebels to the Class 7A semifinals and finishing with a 31-15 record.

“That’s definitely an honor,” Hardee said. “There are a lot of good volleyball ball teams and good coaches in the Birmingham area. I enjoy the opportunity to coach against them.

“Making it to the Elite Eight was a goal of ours. I thought we had a good enough team to do that. We played a tough schedule and our kids did a good job and worked hard.

“We wanted to get to the Final Four and play for a championship and fell just short of that, but I’m proud about what we did and what we accomplished.” 

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