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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALABASTER – The Thompson Warriors entered Tuesday, Sept. 24’s match against the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats searching for an answer.

After getting eliminated by Shades Valley in the semifinals of the South of Town Showdown at Warrior Arena, Thompson lost both of its matches last week.

First, it dropped its area opener against Oak Mountain, losing three straight sets after winning the first, and then it took another 3-1 loss in an in-school match against the Daphne Trojans.

However, the Warriors got back to their winning ways in a big way with a 3-0 sweep over Tuscaloosa County at Warrior Arena.

The victory gave Thompson its first win in area play, making its record 1-1 going into its final two matches of area play on Thursday, Sept. 6 against Hoover and Monday, Oct. 7’s rescheduled trip to Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa.

The Warriors got off to a strong start in the match as they took a lead that they would not give up down the stretch.

Thompson took the 25-17 win in the first set, putting it up 1-0 in the match and setting the table for more success the rest of the way.

However, the Wildcats did not go down without a fight and rallied to make the second set a tight affair.

The teams were tied 24-24 and needed extra points to decide a winner, but the Warriors were strong at the end of the set and won back-to-back points after the tie.

That gave Thompson a 26-24 win in the second set and put it just one set win away from taking the match.

Using the momentum from the closing moments of the second set, the Warriors raced ahead to a dominant lead in the third set to leave nothing to chance and wrap the match up in their first opportunity to do so.

Thompson finished the job with a 25-14 win in the third set as the double-digit victory secured the sweep at home for its first area victory of the 2024 season.

The Warriors will look to make it back-to-back wins as they face one of their biggest challenges of the season: their perennial rivals, the Hoover Bucs, on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. on the road at Hoover High School.