Oak Mountain falls in Juanita Boddie championship game
Published 8:15 pm Saturday, August 22, 2009
It didn’t take long for Alabama High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame member Tammy Richardson to make an impact in her new job.
The winningest volleyball coach in Pelham High School history made her debut with Oak Mountain this weekend by leading the Eagles to an appearance in the silver division championship game of the Juanita Boddie tournament Saturday at Thompson Middle School.
Oak Mountain fell to Mobile power Bayside Academy 27-25, 19-25, 12-15, but Richardson proved the Eagles will be a contender in her first season with the team. Oak Mountain defeated Albertville and Austin before falling in the championship game.
“I thought we could be real competitive,” Richardson said. “I’m extremely pleased. We beat who we were supposed to beat.”
Outside hitter Samantha Skinner, who was named to the all-tournament team, is confident after her team performed well in one of the state’s premier in-season volleyball tournaments. Skinner finished with 30 kills, 28 digs and seven aces in four games Saturday
“It was amazing,” Skinner said. “We were so close. We’ll be there very soon.”
Natalie Quinn had 23 kills and 31 digs in four games Saturday. Quinn and Lauren Dasher also made the all-tournament team.
Pelham lost to defending Class 6A champion Bob Jones 22-25, 17-25 in the gold division semifinals. Ally Slaughter finished with 48 kills, 16 digs and seven aces in the tournament as the Panthers went 4-1. Thompson and Spain Park each bowed out of the silver division bracket before the semifinals.
Briarwood Christian and Chelsea each finished runnerup in their respective divisions at the Lions’ Serve-Off tournament. Briarwood Christian was swept by Guntersville 20-25, 20-25 in the gold division championship game Saturday. Julia Hoke had eight kills and four blocks in the match. Chelsea lost to McAdory in three games in the bronze division championship game.
It wasn’t all bad news for the Hornets, however, as Chelsea defeated rival John Carroll Catholic for the first time in coach Donnie Teague’s four-year tenure at the school. The Hornets beat the Cavs despite having only six players. Two were injured and another one was out of town, Teague said.
“We had six kids playing out of position and managed to stay in it with them,” Teague said. “It is a big win for us. It’ll be a different deal in October when we play them in an area game.”
Defending AISA Class 2A champion Kingwood Christian lost to Crenshaw Christian in the semifinals of the Elite Eight tournament Saturday in Alabaster.