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The Oak Mountain Eagles picked up a win in their area opener on Tuesday, Sept. 1, with a sweep of the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats to continue a six-match win streak. (For the Reporter/Larry Dancy)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

NORTH SHELBY – After losing to Thompson on Aug. 25, the Oak Mountain Eagles’ volleyball team has hit a recent hot streak, winning seven consecutive matches in straight sets.

Following the 3-1 loss to the Warriors, Oak Mountain beat both Shades Valley and Hewitt-Trussville in a tri-match on Thursday, Aug. 27.

The Eagles beat Hewitt with set wins of 25-17 and 25-21 and beat Shades Valley with set wins of 25-12 and 25-14 during a dominant night.

That led into the Briarwood play date tournament on Aug. 28, where the Eagles continued a strong stretch with 2-0 wins against Clay-Chalkville, Briarwood, Westminster School at Oak Mountain and Chelsea to finish the event undefeated.

The winning streak couldn’t have come at a better time as it led into the Eagles’ area opener on Tuesday, Sept. 1 against the Tuscaloosa Wildcats.

And again, Oak Mountain picked up a straight-set victory. The Eagles won sets by scores of 25-21, 25-19 and 25-4 to claim the 3-0 win.

In the opening set of the matchup, Oak Mountain led throughout as the Wildcats struggled to hold serve, which led to the Eagles pulling away late for a 25-21 win in the set.

Tuscaloosa County came out in the second set more determined hoping to prevent falling in a 0-2 hole. After falling behind 3-0, the Wildcats took their first lead of the night with a 7-0 run to take a 7-3 in the set, which led to a competitive battle throughout.

Oak Mountain came back after falling behind 12-8 thanks to a 5-0 run that put the Eagles back in front 13-12. From that point forward, the Wildcats struggled to hold serve again, which led to Oak Mountain pulling away down the stretch for a 25-19 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

And with the Eagles now a set away from claiming the area victory, they saved their best effort for last.

They came out in the third set and jumped all over the Wildcats, taking a 21-0 lead behind the serve of senior Avery Fletcher. The 21 consecutive points won on serve led to the Eagles easily winning the final set 25-4 to complete the 3-0 sweep.

With the win, the Eagles improved to 10-3 overall and 1-0 in area play.

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