Area champs
- Updated: October 15, 2022
Oxford wins Class 6A Area 13 volleyball title, headed back to regionals for first time since 2019; Mitchell named MVP
CLASS 6A AREA 13
Fort Payne 3, Gadsden City 0 (25-14, 25-24, 25-11)
Oxford 3, Fort Payne 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-20)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD – One day about a month ago sophomore outside hitter Mileah Prince walked up to the white board in the Oxford volleyball locker room and scratched out the four words that would become the battle cry for the rest of the Lady Jackets’ season.
“This Is Our Year.”
The Lady Jackets were hovering around .500 at the time, on the down side of the emotional rollercoaster than has been this season. They’re still at .500, but they’re playing so much better and feeling so much better about where they’re headed.
And where they’re headed is the Class 6A North Regionals – for the first time since 2019 – after sweeping Fort Payne 25-22, 25-20, 25-20 to win the Area 13 Tournament championship.
“I think it’s a big deal,” Oxford coach Wendy McKibbin said. “We’ve got a young group of kids, a very talented group of kids, and a lot of them have never seen that stage of the game of volleyball in the state of Alabama so it’s going to be exciting for them. It’s a big deal.”
The Lady Jackets (22-22) were going to the regionals anyway as the regular-season winner of their three-team area, but winning the tournament gives them a chance for an extended stay at the regionals by avoiding top-ranked Mountain Brook until they’ve already clinched a spot in the Elite 8.
As it turns out, they will open the regional against Shades Valley Wednesday at 2 p.m. Fort Payne (33-21) draws Mountain Brook in its opening match.
Even though the Lady Jackets were still trying to find their way when Prince went to the white board, coach Wendy McKibbin had no problem with the message.
“I liked it; it’s a good idea,” she said. “A lot of times you motivate the kids, but a lot of it has to come from them. You can coach them, you can teach them, you can say all kinds of things to them, but at the end of the day they’re playing on their 30-by-30 … so they’ve got to want to do it. And they did. They showed up today and played very well.”
Oxford’s Abbie Mitchell was named most valuable player. She had 17 kills in the match. Fort Payne made its biggest moves when Mitchell was off the floor, but every time she returned to the fray the Lady Jackets’ fortunes quickly turned.
Oxford’s Abbie Mitchell was named most valuable player. She had 17 kills in the match. Fort Payne made its biggest moves when the rotation took Mitchell off the floor, but every time she returned to the fray the Lady Jackets’ fortunes quickly turned.
She was off the floor when the Lady Wildcats ran off nine straight points to take a 20-14 lead in the first set. The rotation came back around and the Lady Jackets rallied to win the set.
“That changed the whole game, the whole match,” said Fort Payne coach Justin Kisor, the former Faith Christian coach. “We went from being up there to now it’s an uphill climb.”
“That’s what we’ve been really working on, stressing on, the last couple days of practice,” McKibbin said. “We’ve been playing a lot of competitive games where we’re down, scenarios where you’re down by five or down in the fifth set 8-3, how are you going to come back, how are you going to fix stuff.”
Fort Payne staged a similar rally in the second set when Mitchell was out and closed to 23-20 from 20-14 down. Mitchell returned and Oxford won the final two points, with Mitchell putting away the clincher.
The third set was close early, Mitchell went back in and Oxford pulled ahead 23-16. She went out and Fort Payne drew it back to 24-20. After McKibbin called time, the Lady Jackets closed it out on the next play.
“We kept fighting, we never gave up on a point and that’s what we been really working on all season.,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been on a roller coaster up and down and when they gained a point I think we still responded and kept going with it.”
Going all the way to the area championship they were determined to make their own.
| FORT PAYNE (33-21) | K | A | SA | D | B | OXFORD (22-22) | K | A | SA | D | B |
| AJ Kramer | 2 | 3 | 1 | Jamea Gaston | 13 | ||||||
| Anna Banks | 2 | 33 | Payton Brooks | 1 | 35 | 1 | 7 | ||||
| Lydie Varnadore | 1 | 3 | Ashlyn Burns | 2 | 6 | ||||||
| Bri Williams | 2 | 1 | 1 | Abbie Mitchell | 17 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Carley Cash | 6 | Kaelyn Crossley | 1 | 8 | |||||||
| Cooper Garrett | 13 | 11 | 1 | 5 | Arilyn Pool | 2 | 11 | ||||
| Layla Kirby | 6 | 1 | 10 | Daelyn Bozeman | 8 | 1 | |||||
| Lily Jackson | 5 | 1 | 6 | 1 | Jaslyn Montgomery | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Natalie Hotalen | 18 | 10 | Sadie Grace Morrison | 2 | |||||||
| Savannah Hall | 3 | 3 | 1 | Mileah Prince | 6 |
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Most Valuable Player: Abbie Mitchell, Oxford
Oxford: Payton Brooks, Maleah Prince
Fort Payne: Anna Banks, Cooper Garrett
Gadsden City: Uche Osuji
CLASS 6A NORTH REGIONALS
At Von Braun Center, Huntsville
Wednesday’s first-round pairings
Minor vs. Hartselle (31-22), 2 p.m.
Buckhorn (19-27) vs. Clay-Chalkville (21-8), 2 p.m.
Shades Valley vs. Oxford (22-22), 2 p.m.
Muscle Shoals (23-15) vs. Gardendale (26-17), 2 p.m.
Huffman (9-12) vs. Athens (21-20), 2 p.m.
Fort Payne (33-21) vs. Mountain Brook, 2 p.m.
Mortimer Jordan (4-18) vs. Hazel Green (36-20), 3:30 p.m.
Decatur (16-39) vs. Homewood, 3:30 p.m.
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