By MICKEL PONTHIEUX / Sports Reporter

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Lady Eagles won their fourth straight area title with a 3-0 sweep of Pelham in the Class 6A, Area 8 tournament at home on Oct. 18.

“Our seniors really wanted to nail that one down,” said Oak Mountain head coach Lance Woods on winning the area title. “They played a really good Spain Park team and a really good Pelham team.”

The Lady Eagles (31-6) jumped out to a 4-2 lead early in the first set, but Pelham battled back to take a 12-6 lead on a 10-2 run.

“Oak Mountain is such a good team and this is the closest we have been to them,” said Pelham head coach Perry Robinson. “I thought there were a few times we could take advantage of something, but we couldn’t do it long enough.”

Oak Mountain rallied back to regain a 19-16 lead, but the Lady Panthers were able to tie the set at 21 on a 5-2 rally. That would be as close as Pelham would be able to get in the first set as the Lady Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the match with a 4-1 run for a 25-22 set victory.

The Lady Panthers scored three quick points to start the second set, but Oak Mountain answered with a 9-1 rally to capture a 9-4 early lead. Pelham kept pace led by Caitland Smith. Smith tallied five kills in a 7-4 Pelham rally to trail 22-19 late in the set, but that wasn’t enough as the Lady Eagles took a 25-21 win for a 2-0 lead in the match.

Oak Mountain jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set led by a pair of Madison Pierce kills and two aces by Peyton McKinley. Pelham’s Smith led Pelham back to even the set at 5 with two kills and a block.

The Lady Eagles pulled away with a 9-3 rally for a 20-13 advantage and closed the match with a 6-1 run for a 25-15 win to claim the area championship.

“It meant the world to me because it was the last time for me to play on this court,” said Oak Mountain senior libero Amy Ritenour. “I was really happy that everybody came together and fought for me and the rest of the seniors.

“Pelham has always been an extremely strong team and you always have to bring your A-game against them. Tonight, they definitely brought it. We had to step up our game a lot.”

Ritenour led the Lady Eagles with 15 digs in the championship match against Pelham. Emily Cosgrove led Oak Mountain with 17 kills, six blocks and four aces. Hannah Beach added a team-high 23 assists with three blocks and seven digs. Senior Hannah Kowal finished with eight kills with Pierce contributing seven kills and four blocks.

Smith had 11 kills and two blocks to lead Pelham. Autumn Wild Hiett added 10 kills, six digs and an ace while Bradleigh Smith finished with seven kills and two blocks.

 

Oak Mountain 3, Spain Park 0

The Oak Mountain Lady Eagles ended the Spain Park Jaguars season with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-13) sweep to kickoff the Class 6A, Area 8 tournament on Oct. 18.

After the Lady Eagles took a 25-11first set win, Spain Park opened the second set with a 6-3 run. Oak Mountain responded with a 9-0 run, then went on an 8-1 rally to take a 21-10 lead to regain control of the set.

Spain Park responded with a rally to pull within seven, 23-16, but Oak Mountain took advantage of two Lady Jag errors to take the 2-0 match lead.

The Lady Eagles jumped out to a 9-2 lead to begin the third set, and closed on a 8-1 rally led by three kills by Emily Cosgrove to take the 25-13 win for the match sweep.

Cosgrove led Oak Mountain with 12 kills and two blocks in the victory over Spain Park. Kowal added six kills while Beach added five kills with a team-high 16 assists. Ritenour led the defense with 12 digs.

 

Pelham 3, Chelsea 0

After splitting the regular season series with Chelsea, the Pelham Lady Panthers battled for a 3-0 sweep of the Lady Hornets at the Class 6A, Area 8 tournament at Oak Mountain High School on Oct. 18.

Pelham sealed up a spot in the Class 6A Super Regionals with the victory.

The Lady Panthers broke away in the first set with an 8-0 rally to take a 14-5 lead on their way to a 25-14 win for a 1-0 match lead.

The second set saw four ties before Pelham drew away with an 11-0 rally to take a 24-16 lead. After two points, the Lady Panthers capitalized on a Chelsea error to take the 25-18 set victory for a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Lady Hornets kept pace with Pelham trailing just 5-4 early in the third set. However, Autumn Wild Hiett scored four kills in a 10-0 Lady Panther run for a 15-4 lead. Pelham closed the match with a 6-1 run capped by a Caitland Smith kill to take the 25-11 set win for the sweep.

Smith led Pelham with 19 kills while Wild Hiett added 12 kills and 10 digs. Hayley Brisendine had a team-high 15 digs.