By DAVIS POTTER / Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY — The Oak Mountain volleyball team stepped out of area play and used a 25-20, 25-17, 25-23 sweep to defeat Spain Park Sept. 21 at Oak Mountain High School.

“I thought we started off slow, but we picked up the pace,” Oak Mountain coach Tammy Richardson said. “We’re really working not to worry about who it is that we’re playing. We’re working to just play our best, and to execute our game plan.”

Senior Chelsea Payne had a big game for the Eagles, racking up 33 assists to go with eight digs and three aces. Samantha Skinner registered 17 kills, three blocks and seven digs.

Juniors Marisa Reese and Sara Goodwin combined for 19 digs.

After dropping the first two games, Spain Park’s best chance to avoid the sweep came in the third game. The Jaguars battled back from an early 11-6 deficit to take a 15-13 lead midway through the contest.

However, Oak Mountain rallied to score four straight points to reclaim a 17-15 lead and never trailed again.

Richardson said she was happy to see her team pick up the energy level.

“We’re doing some things with (the players) to try and get that pace going just a little bit faster,” Richardson said. “I think they did some good things tonight to encourage us in that area.”

Sophomore McKenna McLain led the Jaguars with 14 assists. Outside hitter Sydney Fritz tallied 10 digs, and Kendall Carlis added six blocks and four kills.

Katie Best chipped in eight digs and four blocks.

Pelham drops match with Vestavia Hills

Porsha Tolbert led the Panthers with 13 kills in a 27-29, 24-26, 26-24, 19-25 loss to Vestavia Hills.

Dana Allen added 12 kills and 20 digs for Pelham, which fell to 19-14 overall.

Sydney Days finished with a team-high 32 assists.

Thompson swept by Hoover

Haley Davenport led the Warriors with eight kills in a 19-25, 19-25, 21-25 loss to Hoover.

Hailey Schatz added seven kills.

Indian Springs sweeps B.B. Comer

Andrea Mayo led Indian Springs with 16 kills and 24 digs in a 25-11, 25-17, 25-9 sweep of B.B. Comer.

Lauren Plouff recorded a team-high 22 assists.

Vincent drops match with ASD

Jessica Posey led the Yellow Jackets with nine kills in Vincent’s 12-25, 25-23, 17-25, 17-25 loss to the Alabama School for the Deaf.

Amber Shaw added four kills and a team-high 20 digs to go along with six service aces.

Randee Isbell recorded five service aces. Rachel Johnson finished with 15 assists.

Kingwood Christian drops match with Prattville Christian

Casey Whitmer led the Lions with eight kills in a 20-25, 25-14, 19-25, 25-20, 10-15 loss to Prattville Christian.

Katie McElroy recorded 12 digs and six service aces. Karley Chamblee registered a team-high 22 assists and nine service aces.

Evangel sweeps rival Hope

Erica Williams led the Lightning with six kills and nine service aces in Evangel’s 25-12, 25-7, 25-23 sweep of rival Hope Christian.

Rainey Ketcham added six kills and two blocks for Evangel, which improved to 11-0 overall.

Elizabeth Ragland recorded six kills, five service aces and two blocks.

Brooke Machen led Hope with nine kills. Teenie Donlin and Kelsey Thompson added six kills each.

Donlin added a team-high four service aces. Hannah Rettig recorded five kills.