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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALABASTER – It was a historic day for the Thompson Warriors volleyball program as they celebrated a half-century of existence while also picking up a win in dramatic fashion.

Thompson went on to defeat the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies in a five-set battle on Thursday, Oct. 2 at Warrior Arena to get back to winning ways.

The Warriors held a special celebration for the 50th anniversary of their volleyball program before the varsity match. Thompson invited alumni back for the occasion, which saw the arena decorated with balloons and a court replica that alumni could sign.

Once the match started, the Warriors sought a bounce-back result after dropping their last three matches, including a five-set loss to Hoover on Thursday, Sept. 25 and two tri-match losses to Huntsville in a 2-0 sweep and James Clemens in 2-1 fashion on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

Thompson went right to work and started out the match in strong fashion. The Warriors quickly got in front and powered their way to a commanding victory from there.

Thompson eventually won the first set by a score of 25-15, and it went up 1-0 in the match as a result. However, it proved to be the widest margin of victory in the entire match.

Hewitt rallied in the second set and made it a competitive battle down the stretch. The Huskies came back and took the Warriors to the limit by forcing extra points, and they capitalized from there.

Hewitt won the second set in 26-24 fashion after winning back-to-back points to end the set.

With the match now tied up at 1-1, Thompson went back to work to recapture the momentum in the match. The Warriors rebounded from the second-set loss by establishing a more comfortable lead over the Huskies, and this time, they saw it out.

Thompson won the third set by a score of 25-19 to put the hosts in front 2-1 and a set win away from taking the match.

However, the pendulum swung back in Hewitt’s favor after that. The Huskies battled back and were a tough out for the Warriors down the stretch, and despite Thompson having a chance to send the set to extra points, the visitors ended up on top.

Hewitt finished off the fourth set with a 25-23 win and tied up the match at 2-2 in the process, forcing a fifth and decisive set between the teams.

The fifth set proved to be one of the tightest battles of the entire match as the teams racked up points and went down to the last point to decide the match. The Warriors got the last word though as they avoided a 14-14 tie to win the game.

Thompson finished off the five-set win with a 15-13 victory in the fifth set to snap the three-match losing streak.

The Warriors improved to 19-8 overall with the victory. Thompson will be in tournament action over the weekend at the Battle for Old Shell Road in Mobile. Pool play matches are set for Saturday, Oct. 4 against the Robertsdale Golden Bears, Glenwood Gators and Fairhope Pirates.