Oak Mountain reaches super regionals with runner-up finish

Published 1:43 pm Thursday, October 17, 2024

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Eagles are moving on to super regionals after a strong showing on their home court during the area tournament.

Oak Mountain advanced to the next round of the Class 7A playoffs with a commanding 3-0 win over the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at Oak Mountain High School in the Class 7A, Area 6 semifinals.

The Eagles fell to the Hoover Buccaneers 3-0 in the finals, but the runner-up finish sealed Oak Mountain’s spot in the north super regionals on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at the Finley Center in Hoover.

The Eagles started their postseason with a matchup against Tuscaloosa County, which was minutes removed from a five-set battle with Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa in the first round.

Only a handful of points separated the teams in the opening points, but Oak Mountain had the early 11-8 lead and built off it from there. A Caroline Whitehurst kill took the lead to 15-9, and the Eagles cruised from then on.

Oak Mountain forced a timeout with a 19-13 lead, and after the teams traded the next two points, back-to-back Wildcats errors gave the Eagles a 23-15 lead and an opening to shut down the set.

A massive dig and a Kate Gordon kill let Oak Mountain do just that and take the 25-15 win.

The Eagles kept the momentum rolling in the second set as they started on a 5-1 run and never looked back.

The lead ballooned to 12-5 with Aubrie Smith on the serve, and she even contributed an ace to force a timeout.

Oak Mountain remained in control and forced another stoppage with a 19-8 lead.

Tuscaloosa County then won back-to-back points after the timeout, but Gordon flipped the momentum with two quick digs in the same point.

That then led to six straight points capped by a Whitehurst kill to seal the 25-10 win.

With their backs against the wall, the Wildcats responded with a 3-0 run to start the third set.

The Eagles then went on a 3-3 run of their own, but they would remain either behind or tied until they broke a 7-7 tie with back-to-back points.

Oak Mountain never trailed after that, but Tuscaloosa County did tie up the set two more times at 10-10 and 12-12 to keep the pressure on the Eagles.

Gordon then orchestrated a 4-0 run from the service line to take a 16-12 lead and force a timeout.

That proved to be the turning point of the set. The Wildcats never got closer than two points from tying after that and Oak Mountain pulled away from there.

Whitehurst got the match-winning kill to cap an 8-1 run, take the 25-16 win and seal the sweep.

With the win, the Eagles sealed their spot in super regionals and advanced to the finals to face the Hoover Bucs, who were fresh off a 3-1 win over the Thompson Warriors.

Oak Mountain came flying out of the gate and took a 7-2 lead to force an early Hoover timeout to regroup. That lead grew even more to 12-4 and then 15-6 before the Bucs spent another timeout.

From there though, Hoover started chipping into the Eagles lead. First it was five, then later it was two, and finally, after a Hoover service error put Oak Mountain on set point with a 24-22 lead, the Bucs won four straight to land the decisive blow.

Hoover’s 26-24 win put it up 1-0 in the match, putting the pressure on the Eagles to respond after watching a lead slip through their hands.

In the second set, Oak Mountain won three straight points to take a 3-1 lead, but that would prove to be short-lived as Hoover then won five straight points.

The Eagles later drew within one two separate times at 12-11 and 15-14 before tying up the set at 16-16 with a Gordon swing that went right to the back line.

The teams then ended up in two more ties before Hoover won six of the last seven points to take the 25-20 win and put itself within a set of the title.

The Eagles surged out to a 4-0 lead and had all the momentum to start the third set. However, after they initially won the fifth point, a lengthy officiating discussion led to a reversal and sucked all of the life from the Oak Mountain run.

The Bucs then went on a 9-0 run that gave them a lead they would not relinquish. Hoover pulled away over the course of the set and took the 25-11 win to claim the area title.

Oak Mountain will now play in the north super regionals as the No. 2 seed out of Class 7A, Area 6. The Eagles will face the Bob Jones Patriots in a rematch of last season’s super regional matchup on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. at the Finley Center in Hoover.

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