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The Oak Mountain Eagles stayed strong and fought hard for one of their biggest road victories of the season as they rallied to defeat Thompson in area play. (For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines)

The Oak Mountain Eagles stayed strong and fought hard for one of their biggest road victories of the season as they rallied to defeat Thompson in area play. (For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALABASTER – No matter what the Thompson Warriors threw at them, the Oak Mountain Eagles took it in stride and fought for the win in their second area match of the season.

Their effort paid off in the end, and Oak Mountain claimed one of the biggest victories of Anna Claire Harris’ first season as coach with a 3-1 win on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at Thompson High School.

After learning how to work together during the opening weeks of the season, Harris was proud of their collective effort to battle back on the road.

“Tonight, I think they really stepped up and learned how to act and how to adjust, and me as well,” Harris said. “So, going forward, I think it’s super exciting to see them playing together and realizing that they can’t actually play by themselves.”

Oak Mountain started the match up 3-1 before Thompson had a 3-1 run of its own to tie up the match. The Warriors then won three straight points to go up 8-5, and they never gave up the lead after that.

The Eagles rallied after a timeout to cut the deficit to 14-10, but Thompson then won nine of the next 10 points to take firm control of the set. The Warriors closed out the 25-13 set win from there to go up 1-0 in the match.

That momentum quickly changed in the second set when Oak Mountain sprinted to a 5-0 lead with Kate Gordon on the serve.

Thompson closed the gap to 8-5 shortly after, but the Eagles responded well, forcing a timeout after going up 13-7. The Warriors regained some momentum late to make it a four-point difference, however, it wasn’t enough.

Oak Mountain outpaced Thompson down the stretch to win the second set 25-18.

With the match tied up going into the third set, it seemed only fitting that the teams were tied up at 4-4 early in the set.

That left the match at a critical tipping point. Oak Mountain grabbed a two-point lead shortly afterwards, and it wouldn’t trail the rest of the set.

The teams were separated by one point near the midway mark in the set, but a critical block from the Eagles swung the momentum in their favor, and they won five straight points to go up 17-12.

The Warriors made one final stand in the third set, winning three straight points to make Oak Mountain’s lead 22-20, but the Eagles went on a three-point run of their own to seal the 25-20 win.

With Oak Mountain now up 2-1 in the match, that led to a highly competitive fourth set where Thompson fought to remain alive in its area opener and the Eagles sought to close the deal.

It was a battle of runs to open up the set as Oak Mountain turned around a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead with then grew to 8-5. The Warriors then won five straight points to take a 10-8 lead, one that they would hold through the middle portion of the set.

After the hosts’ lead ballooned to 19-15, the Eagles made their final stand. Oak Mountain won five straight points to take a 20-19 lead, forcing Thompson to call a timeout and regroup.

The teams went back and forth out of the timeout, but it was the Eagles who got their chance to claim the win up 24-23 on match point. However, the Warriors forced extra points.

Oak Mountain brushed off the pressure of a possible fifth set and won the next point to get back on match point.

That led to a massive rally between the teams as Thompson dug out swing after swing from the Eagles front row.

In the end, it was Gordon who had a crucial diving dig to keep the point alive for Oak Mountain, and shortly after, Aubrie Lay sent the ball just over the net to drop for match point and kick off the celebration.

After the match, Harris was proud of her team for not letting Thompson’s runs get them in a rut and pressing on together to win.

“One really big thing that we’ve been working on is we tend to get in a hole, and so I’ve been really pushing communication with one another and mentally resetting,” Harris said. “I think they did a really good job of holding each other accountable with that.”

Harris also complimented the performance from her middles as they came up with big offensive and defensive plays throughout the match. She singled out Ally Ross, who had five kills, three blocks and two digs to play a key part of the win despite it being her first game back from a torn abdominal.

“She showed out and that’s the best game that she’s played in a while,” Harris said. “Our middles did a whole lot for us, but I think at the same time, we had kids that I just had to yank them off the bench due to cramps and things like that. So seamlessly filling holes and facilitating our own energy was really good tonight.”

Caroline Whitehurst led the way in both kills and digs with 13 kills and 23 digs. Gordon had 23 assists, 18 digs, three aces and a kill. Anaya Patel dug out 17 balls, Betsy Smith had a balanced stat line of 13 digs, nine assists, four kills and two aces and Aubrie Lay earned 10 kills, three digs, two total blocks and two aces.

The victory takes Oak Mountain to 2-0 in area play, and it will have the rest of the week of to celebrate before its rescheduled area match against Tuscaloosa County on the road on Monday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m.

As for Thompson, it now drops to 16-5 with an 0-1 mark in area play and will look to bounce back when it hosts the Daphne Trojans for an in-school match on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 1:30 p.m.

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