Eagles run out of magic at state tournament

The Oak Mountain High School volleyball team simply ran out of magic.

The Eagles advanced to the AHSAA State Volleyball Championships for the first time since 2012, but fell to arguably the top Class 7A team, McGill-Toolen, 3-0 (19-25, 21-25, 9-25) on Wednesday morning at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

“I am extremely proud,” said head coach Tien Le. “We had it tough. We had to beat Spain Park in the area, who is a very good team. In the first round of regionals, we had to beat Bob Jones.”

Oak Mountain (28-19) navigated one of the most difficult areas in 7A, in terms of advancing past the Area 6 tournament.

The Eagles then upset Bob Jones in a five-set thriller last week in the super regional round to qualify for the Elite Eight at the CrossPlex.

But McGill proved too tough.

“We were definitely in it the first two sets,” Le said. “We had opportunities to capitalize, but we weren’t quite as relaxed in this match as we were against Bob Jones.”

In the match, Jacoby Sims led the way with 12 kills, followed by eight from Torie Denkers and five from Ashley Treace. Kathryn Beard registered 17 assists and nine digs. Treace added 13 assists.

With this being Oak Mountain’s first state trip since 2012, the seniors on the current squad made it their objective from the outset to get back to the place they had yet to make it to in their high school careers.

That will conclude the career of Eagle seniors Mollie Grace Wade, Makenzie Warren and Sims.

“The seniors are thrilled. State – since we haven’t been to state in four years – was their goal. I’m real proud and happy for them,” Le said.