Patriots reach final 4 in historic year

The Homewood High School volleyball team nearly broke through against its toughest foe in the Class 6A state tournament.

After falling in all three matches and all eight sets throughout the year, Homewood won two sets against Mountain Brook in the 6A semifinals Oct. 26. But the Patriots ultimately fell in five sets at the Birmingham CrossPlex, putting an end to a great season.

Homewood competes against Mountain Brook in Area 9 and lost to the Spartans each time they faced one another during the season. It looked as if that trend may continue after the first set, with Mountain Brook earning a 25-16 win.

But the Patriots finally notched a set over the Spartans in the second set, as they stormed to a 25-17 win to even the match at a set apiece. Homewood kept that momentum in the third, rolling to a 25-18 victory to take a 2-1 lead.

“We needed that for our confidence, because it’s really been a mental block,” Homewood head coach Andie Freedman said. “We have the capability and talent to play with a team like that.”

But with their backs against the wall, the Spartans rallied and edged Homewood 25-21 in the fourth to force a decisive fifth set. Mountain Brook leaned on its championship pedigree — the Spartans won their third straight state title the following day — in that moment and punched its ticket to the final with a 15-7 win.

“At the end of the day, Mountain Brook’s a very good team,” Freedman said. “Today was different for us, because we came out and competed to the level that we could compete and made it a real competitive match.”

In the semifinal match, outside hitter Olivia Brown led the offensive attack with 30 kills. Lily Janas added 11 kills as well. Olivia Outman tallied 40 assists and 9 digs in the match. Brown also contributed 11 digs and 3 blocks.

Homewood got its day started in the quarterfinals with a convincing 3-0 win over Northridge. The Patriots were sharp from the get-go and won 25-7, 25-22, 25-22 in their first state tournament match since 2009.

The Patriots got big matches from several players. Brown led the offense with 16 kills, with Mackenzie Yoakum adding 10 kills. Outman was outstanding, contributing 26 assists. Yoakum added 4 blocks as well.

Libero Haley Callaham led the team with 18 digs and added 6 assists. Brown finished with 15 digs, Outman had 13 and Yoakum registered 12 digs.

Led by seniors Callaham, Janas, Outman, Brown and Yoakum, Homewood was tabbed as one of the top teams in the state before the season began. The Patriots lived up to that, finishing with a record of 32-14 and a spot in the final four.

Brown finished with 679 kills on the year, putting her over 1,500 in her career. Outman tallied over 1,000 assists on the season and finished with over 1,700 in her career.

“This team is very, very special. You have your seniors that have played on varsity since their freshman year. We have some big shoes to fill for the girls coming up next year,” Freedman said.

Homewood got to the state tournament by finishing second in the area and third at the North Regional in Huntsville the week prior to state.

The Patriots beat Springville 3-0 and followed that up with a 3-0 win over Hartselle on the first day at regionals. Homewood fell to Athens 3-1 in its first match the following day, but beat Hazel Green 3-0 in the third-place match.