FAIRHOPE, Alabama -- Picking up volleyball wins on the Eastern Shore is nothing new to Murphy coach Nancy Gregorius Shoquist. She won many as a player for Fairhope High and later as an opposing coach at St. Paul's and now for the Lady Panthers as well.

On Friday she picked up a special win as her 2012 MHS team presented her with a major milestone in the sport — her 1000th victory — at her alma mater.

Her team also went on to win the Back-to-School-Bash tournament hosted by Fairhope's Lady Pirates and their coach Melissa Plash defeating the defending 2011 Bash champion Toros of Spanish Fort in three games 23-25, 25-12, 15-13.

"Always good to get a win, of course, but it's really special to come back to Fairhope," Shoquist said. "And to get the 1,000th win here at my alma mater was just awesome. But I owe a lot to these girls of mine

who helped me get it here. It would have been nice to do it at Murphy, too, but this is how it worked out. We're 11-3 and I was just a few away when the season started. So they worked really hard for me early this year and got us off to a great start. We lost five starters so that tells you something about how hard they have been working and how good they can be, too. I'm just so proud of them."

The big 1-K victory came at the expense of Gulf Shores where Shoquist's niece Erin McKee plays for the Lady Dolphins.

"That's kind of funny, too," she said. "The way that worked out. Like keeping it all in the family, I guess. But it was good to have Erin here with me as well."

On Friday the Panthers finished pool play 2-0 and then defeated Cottage Hill, Baldwin County and Cottage Hill again in the semis before meeting Spanish Fort in the finals.

SFHS won the Bash last season, but lost four seniors to graduation and are riding on the leadership of four seniors this year, said coach Barclay Kercher. "Our starting middle (Bailey Stein) blocker was out with an ankle sprain, but our freshman middle Anna Claire Whaley stepped up big for us.

"So, overall I was impressed with how well we played to get to the finals. We came out strong and won the first game, but then I guess fell into a lull in the second game and let them back in it. Still I'm proud of how we came back, didn't fold and roll over in the third game. Then we fought back and almost tied it up. That experience was good for us and we handled it pretty well. But it's still early in the season and we have some things to keep working on.

"Nobody is ever happy with second, but we were pleased with how we fought and handled the pressure. Nancy is a good coach and always has her players ready to go. It's great that she got her big win here. She has been a great mentor of mine along with Becky Dickinson and Debbie Sanders and it's just a great, special thing for her."

For the tournament, Bria Rochelle had 54 kills, JoBeth Hughes had 35 kills, Jasmine Thompson 18 kills, and Kersten Joyner 93 assists for the Panthers.

SFHS earned wins over Foley, MGM and Saint Lukes before moving into the finals.

The Toros' stat leaders were Amber Treace who had 53 assists, 10 digs and 17 kills; Ari Kaminsky with 12 kills; Sara Frances Shirley with 12 digs; Hayden Green with 10 kills, nine digs and Shannon Paaymans who added 15 digs.

Shoquist played her college volleyball at Troy University and earned a master’s degree from the University of South Alabama before beginning her coaching career at St. Paul’s, where she spent 19 years as a coach

winning five state championships in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1992 and 1995.

She also led the Lady Saints tennis team to five state titles. She then took a break from coaching before taking over the Murphy program 10 years ago. Since then, the Lady Panthers have made the 6A Elite Eight nine times and advanced to the final four once.

The 1,000 win club is far from over-crowded. Shoquist joins the Special K ranks with still active coaches Ann Schilling of Bayside Academy, St. Luke’s Tammy Richardson, Montgomery Academy’s Julie Sinclair and Glenda Wright (All-time Alabama High School leader beginning this season at just over 1,300) of Walker High and retired McGill-Toolen Catholic Dirty Dozen coach Becky Dickinson.

"It means a lot to me because it means, maybe, I have been helpful to all the kids I've coached and taught along the way," Shoquist added. "And to be there with the other coaches that I have looked up to and learned so much from.

I can say I'm in pretty good company because they are all my friends and we all share a great passion for this sport and love instilling that passion in young players. Volleyball has meant so much to me and it always will. I love seeing younger players get that love for it, too. It's like a competitive energy that volleyball just brings out. It's a spark that coaches just love to pass on."