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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

TRUSSVILLE – The Oak Mountain Eagles had a productive weekend ahead of a crucial area matchup as they headed 30 minutes north to take part in the Husky Challenge at Hewitt-Trussville High School on Saturday, Sept. 27.

Oak Mountain defeated the Oxford Yellow Jackets, Gadsden City Titans, Northridge Jaguars and Gardendale Rockets before dropping a three-set match against the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies.

As a result, the Eagles finished the tournament with a 4-1 record.

Oak Mountain started out the tournament with a tight test against Oxford. The two teams split the first two sets, leading to a third-set tiebreaker to decide the match. The Eagles went on to win the third set to secure the 2-1 win in the match.

That set up a dominant performance against Gadsden City in the next matchup. The Eagles quickly rolled to a double-digit lead and eventually doubled the Titans’ point total. From there, Oak Mountain went on to win the first set by a score of 25-10 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Eagles kept rolling in the second set and barely allowed Gadsden City to get much of any momentum the rest of the way. Oak Mountain commanded the match on offense and put away the match with a 25-5 win in the second set.

From there, the Eagles finished out pool play with a perfect record as they took on Northridge. After winning the first set, Oak Mountain replicated the feat in the second set to seal the sweep and set itself up well for the matches to come.

The Eagles took on Gardendale for another Class 6A test, and just like the previous three matchups, they emerged victorious. Oak Mountain built off its first-set victory to take the second set as well and earn its third-straight 2-0 sweep and fourth-straight victory.

However, their tournament came to an end when they faced the tournament host Hewitt-Trussville. The Eagles didn’t go down without a fight as they split the first two sets with the Huskies. However, Hewitt rallied for a third-set win to eliminate Oak Mountain from the tournament.

Despite the loss, the Eagles’ 4-1 tournament record took their overall record to 16-14. Oak Mountain will now prepare for its area finale against the Hoover Buccaneers and needs a win to force a three-way tie for first place in Class 7A, Area 6. The match will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. at Hoover High School.