Oxford Jackets B’ham Bound

Oxford, AL – Here are the results from teams in and around Calhoun County playing in the ASHAA North and South super regionals; play continues Thursday

Oxford earned its first trip to the volleyball Elite 8 since 2016 Wednesday night when it dominated a fifth-set tiebreaker to beat Muscle Shoals 3-2 at the VonBraun Center.

The Lady jackets (24-22) won the first two sets 25-20, 25-18, lost the next two sets 16-25, 21-25, then totally dominated the tiebreaker 15-3. They beat Shades Valley in their regional opener 3-0.

“They thought they could let off the gas a little bit off the second set,” Lady Jackets assistant coach Rachel Poe said as head coach Wendy McKibbin drove the bus back to Oxford. “We lost the third and even though the pressure was still on them to win, I felt like they internalized the pressure and got a little nervous. We were playing not to lose. We were kind of timid at the net, our communication kind of shut down a little bit.

“But after the fourth set we pulled everyone in. We had a lot of girls step up. One said we need to play for each other. Another said, TBS – total body sacrifice – which is one of the things we say. We knew we could do it and just like that other saying, ‘it’s our year,’ we said it’s our year. Then Coach McKibbin came in and said let’s just do what we can do and have fun. They all said yeah and lit up the court.”

The Lady Jackets scored the first point of the tiebreaker, went up 2-1 and then “kept plugging away.” They got the ball back at 5-3 and ran the table with Arilyn Pool delivering most of the serves.

“The energy on the court was amazing and they knew they had it,” Poe said. “They just kept fighting and it was really fun to watch.”

The Lady Jackets will play Hartselle (33-22) in the Class 6A regional semifinals at 2 p.m. Thursday. Winning that match will make them either 1 or 2 coming out of the North in next week’s state championship round at Birmingham’s Crossplex. A loss to Harselle will make them either the 3 or 4.

Mountain Brook (38-12) and Hazel Green (38-20) will play in the other North semifinal. The Elite 8 qualifiers from the South are Northridge (36-12), Bayside Academy (49-12), Spanish Fort and Pelham (37-15)

“We talked to them about how proud we were of them, but we told them it’s not over and tomorrow is just as important as today,” Poe said.

Here are the results of the local teams in Wednesday’s regionals. Class 2A, 3A and 7A get underway Thursday.:

North Super Regionals

At Von Braun Center, Huntsville
CLASS 1A
Spring Garden 3, Waterloo 0
Spring Garden 3, Phillips 0
Addison 3, Ragland 0
Covenant Christian 3, Cedar Bluff 0

CLASS 4A
Curry 3, Jacksonville 0
West Morgan 3, Cherokee County 0
Cleburne County 3, Haleyville 0
Priceville 3, Cleburne County 0

CLASS 5A
Alexandria 3, Madison Academy 1
Arab 3, Alexandria 0
Westminster 3, Southside 1

CLASS 6A
Oxford 3, Shades Valley 0
Oxford 3, Muscle Shoals 2

South Super Regionals

At Cramton Bowl Multi-Plex, Montgomery
CLASS 1A
Wadley 3, Calhoun 0
University Charter 3, Wadley 0
Faith Christian 3, Central Hayneville 0
Kinston 3, Faith Christian 1

CLASS 4A
LAMP 3, Handley 0
Munford 3, Dallas County 0
Orange Beach 3, Munford 0

CLASS 5A
Brewbaker Tech 3, Sylacauga 2