By MICKEL PONTHIEUX / Sports Reporter

NORTH SHELBY – After finishing fourth in their pool, the Thompson volleyball team swept through the silver bracket at Spain Park’s Dig In the Park tournament on Oct. 6.

Thompson went 0-3 in pool play with losses to Mountain Brook (23-25, 16-25), John Carroll (11-25, 12-25) and Chelsea 15-25, 25-21, 14-16).

The Lady Warriors found their groove in the quarterfinals of the sliver bracket against region foe Prattville. Thompson downed the Lions in straight sets (25-22, 25-18) led by eight kills from Katie Guiser.

Thompson carried the momentum into the semifinals with a 25-16, 25-19 win over Ramsay. Guiser and Kelsea Bivins each posted five kills and two blocks to propel the Warriors into the finals.

The Warriors avenged a pool play loss to Chelsea with a 25-23, 25-23 victory to win the silver bracket final game. Guiser led with seven kills with Bivins and Allen each adding five kills. Ashley Fondren had 11 assists. Tara Miller added seven assists with a team-high five aces.

Oak Mountain, Pelham and Spain Park each advanced to the gold bracket after finishing in the top-2 of their respective pools.

Oak Mountain swept through its pool with wins over Curry (25-16, 25-23), Prattville (25-14, 25-12) and Homewood (25-17, 25-14). The Eagles were unable to overcome errors against John Carroll in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket play in a 14-25, 16-25 loss.

Emily Cosgrove totaled 26 kills in the tournament with Hannah Beach added 24 kills and 36 assists. Peyton McKinley led the Eagles defense with 18 digs.

The Pelham volleyball team won Pool C in the tournament highlighted by a 25-23, 25-20 sweep of Class 6A No. 7 Vestavia Hills. The Panthers defeated Fairhope (25-16, 25-16) and Ramsay (28-26, 25-20) to advance to the gold bracket.

Pelham bounced back from a 16-25 loss in the first set to even the quarterfinal match against Curry with a 25-23 win in the second set. However, the Panthers couldn’t get things rolling in the decisive set to fall 6-15.

Caitland Smith led Pelham wiht 41 kills in the tournament with eight blocks. Bradleigh Smith added 19 kills, six blocks and two aces while Autumn Wild Hiett finished the day with 16 kills, 43 digs and eight aces. Hayley Brisendine led the Pelham defense with 45 digs.

The Spain Park volleyball team took second in their pool with wins over Shades Valley and McAdory to advance to the gold bracket quarterfinals. The Lady Jags fell to Mountain Brook in the opening round of bracket play.