Westminster OM continues unbeaten area run with second win over Vincent

Published 3:07 pm Tuesday, September 17, 2024

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Westminster School at Oak Mountain Knights have gotten off to a flying start in the 2024 season, and that continued with another area win over a county foe.

Westminster defeated the Vincent Yellow Jackets 3-1 on Monday, Sept. 16 at home to improve to 4-0 in area play and sweep the regular season series over Vincent.

The win bolstered the Knights’ resume as one of the top teams in Class 2A as teams reach the halfway point in area play. In addition to area wins over the Jackets and Holy Family Catholic, Westminster also has wins over Clay-Chalkville, St. Clair County and Childersburg on its resume.

The Jackets entered the match looking to break their recent skid after facing multiple tough tests, including a match with Shelby County where they pushed the Class 5A Wildcats to the limit in five sets and their last area loss in four sets to the Knights.

That led to a crucial area showdown between the two sides at Westminster School at Oak Mountain.

While Vincent fought hard to make the first set close, Westminster came out on top to start the match.

The Knights won the first set 25-21 which set up a big performance in the second set.

Westminster got on a roll in the second set and built a lead that it would not give up down the stretch.

Its commanding lead paved the way for a 25-12 victory to put the Knights up 2-0 in the match.

Facing a must-win situation in the third set, the Jackets fought back and forced a much closer set.

This time, it was Vincent which ended up on top and took the third set 25-23 to extend the match to a fourth set.

Westminster responded in the fourth by taking control of the set early and held on to the lead thanks to a dominant service run that included multiple key aces.

In the end, the Knights pulled away enough to keep the Jackets at bay and secure the 25-13 win to take the match.

Westminster will be back in action on Tuesday, Sept. 17 when it hosts Isabella at 7 p.m. Its next area match will be on the road at Cornerstone Schools of Alabama on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 6:30 p.m.

As for Vincent, it will look to get back to winning ways with two more matches this week. The Jackets will host Winterboro on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 4:45 p.m. before their next area match on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. at Holy Family Catholic.