FAIRVIEW – On a day with the top two seeds being eliminated in the semifinal round, West Point rose to the top and claimed the Samantha Perdue/Cullman County junior varsity tournament championship Monday night at Joe Shults Gymnasium.
It was an accomplishment by the Lady Warriors who had to overcome 1-0 deficits in the semifinals, then in the championship round.
West Point defeated Fairview two games to one, taking the second set 25-20 and the tiebreaker 15-12 following a 25-15 loss in game one.
The No. 3 seed Lady Warriors had lost to No. 2 Cold Springs in the semifinals 25-21 in the first set then came back with a 25-19 victory and claimed the match by winning game three 15-12.
Coach Beverly Jenkins' Lady Warriors relied on the play of Taylor Willingham at the net and good serves from Jordyn Kimbrell and Caroline Thompson to overcome a 5-0 deficit in the second set and win it to send the championship into a third set.
Lexi Farley also delivered at the service line when needed in which she scored three straight to send West Point ahead 17-13.
The Lady Warriors won it on a serve by Kimbrell making it 25-20 and bringing the crowd at Joe Shults Gym to their feet.
A fast start by the Lady Warriors featured Sarah Wright serving well and Willingham with three kills and a volley for a 9-3 lead.
Then Fairview answered behind the serves of McKinna Yearwood and net play featuring Alexus Lindsey, Abbi Taylor and Kaycee Wright.
A serve from Lindsey evened the score at 11-11 before a net foul on Fairview put West Point back in front to stay at 12-11.
Farley got the final three points for the Lady Warriors with Fairview being penalized for 4 hits on one serve and letting the ball drop through defenders on match point.
Fairview earned a berth to the championship in stunning No. 1 seed Good Hope 25-13, 25-17 in the semifinals. The Lady Aggies opened the afternoon taking
care of Holly Pond 25-13 25-23.
Before beating Cold Springs in the semis, West Point claimed a sweep of Hanceville 25-13, 25-10 in the quarterfinals.
Farley and Willingham were named to the All-County team following the match for West Point with Fairview being represented by Megan Marks, Lindsey and Taylor.
Good Hope's All-County performers included Abby Burnette, Jamie Stinson and MaKenna Thomspon.
From Cold Springs, Reagan Garmon was selected based on her season coming into the tournament along with Presley Marks of Holly Pond and Mattellan Rusk of Hanceville.
