Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Oak Mountain wrapped up a successful season with its first state tournament berth since 2012.
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) in the quarterfinal round.
“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, battling eventual state champion Mountain Brook and upstart Spain Park in Area 6.
It took a win over the Jags in the area tournament just to advance.
The Eagles then upset Bob Jones in a five-set thriller Oct. 21 in the super regional round, after overcoming a match point in the fourth set, 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 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.
“We’ve been working since our freshman year just to get out of area, and just making it out of area was icing on the cake,” said senior Mollie Grace Wade following the Bob Jones match.
That will conclude the career of Eagle seniors 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.
