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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

AUBURN – After building up momentum over the last two weeks by stacking up victories, the Thompson Warriors got one of their biggest statement wins of the season on the road against one of the top teams in Class 7A.

Thompson upset the No. 5-ranked Auburn High School Tigers 3-2 on Thursday, Oct. 10 at Auburn High School.

In the Warriors’ final five-set match of the regular season, they went the full distance and then some to defeat the Tigers in extra points in the fifth set.

While Thompson came out on top in the end, the team faced some early adversity as Auburn got off to the better start on its home court.

The Tigers got the upper hand in the opening frame and eventually won the set 25-16 to go up 1-0 in the match.

The Warriors fought back though and made the second set a neck-and-neck affair.

With the teams deadlocked at 24-24 and needing extra points to separate them, they traded the next eight points and found themselves in a 28-28 tie with the momentum of the match hanging in the balance.

Thompson stepped up after that and claimed the next two points to win the second set 30-28, and the victory in the marathon set tied up the match at one set win apiece.

The momentum swung firmly back in Auburn’s favor in the third set as the hosts built out a more comfortable lead and saw it out to secure the set victory.

The Tigers claimed the third set 25-19 to take a 2-1 in the match, putting all the pressure on the Warriors to respond and keep the match alive.

Thompson did indeed respond and was tightly matched with Auburn for the rest of the match. The Tigers threatened down the stretch and were just a single point away from triggering another round of extra points.

However, the Warriors took care of business and sealed the 25-23 win in the fourth set to extend the match to a decisive fifth set.

This time though, extra points would be needed to decide a winner thanks to a 14-14 tie. That meant the match would be decided by whoever stepped up in the next couple of points.

Thompson and Auburn split the next two points to remain tied up, this time at 15-15. Just like in the second set, the Warriors then stepped up and won a pair of points back-to-back to take the 17-15 fifth-set win and walk away with a 3-2 victory in the match.

Thompson will finish out the regular season with a quad match at Muscle Shoals High School on Saturday, Oct. 12. Then, the team will face the Hoover Buccaneers in the semifinals of the Class 7A, Area 5 tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. at Oak Mountain High School.