HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Three local squads were on the floor at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville Wednesday and two of them punched their tickets to the state tournament in Birmingham next week. Both the Lady Bulldogs of Addison and the Meek Lady Tigers will advance after sweeping Lexington and Holy Spirit Catholic in the opening round respectively. Cullman faced Mountain Brook in its first match of the day and after making a remarkable comeback in the third set to force a fourth, the Lady Spartans pulled away to defeat the Lady Bearcats and knock them out of postseason contention. Meek went on to drop its second match of the day to Donoho while Addison swept past Spring Garden to play for a North Regional Tournament title.
Addison – Lexington (25-11, 25-15, 25-12)
The Lady Bulldogs squared off against Lexington in their first match of the day and got off to a fast start with a sweep of the Lady Golden Bears. Addison built a 6-2 lead early in the first set that grew to 10-5. The Lady Bulldogs stretched their lead to 15-6 midway through the set before pulling ahead 22-9 and eventually earning a 25-11 win in the first set.
Lexington gave Addison more trouble early in the second set. The score was tied at 3 and stayed tied for most of the early part of the set before the Lady Golden Bears managed to take an 8-7 lead. However, the Lady Bulldogs rallied and dominated the rest of the way. They moved in front 14-11 before extending the lead to 18-11 to put the pressure on Lexington. The run continued for Addison and the Lady Bulldogs raced past Lexington take the second set 25-15 and take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Addison generated another fast start in the third set, jumping out to an 8-2 lead. The Lady Bulldogs were on top 12-3 midway through the third set and made it 16-4 to continue pulling away from the Lady Golden Bears. Addison went on top 19-5 to put the set out of reach for Lexington and the Lady Bulldogs held on to win it 25-12 and earn their spot in the 2A State Volleyball Tournament in Birmingham next week.
Mountain Brook – Cullman (23-25, 13-25, 29-27, 18-25)
The Lady Bearcats met Mountain Brook in their opening round matchup of the North Super Regional and after a very tight first set, the Lady Spartans began to create some separation from Cullman. Both teams spent most of the first set tied. The score was knotted at 4, 7, 10 and 12 before the Lady Bearcats were able to take a 14-12 lead. Mountain Brook would tie things back up at 14 and 16 and the score was locked at 19 late in the set. Both teams were matching point for point to make it a 21-21 set, but the Lady Spartans were able to score four of the next six points to pull away and win a very close opening set 25-23.
Mountain Brook gave Cullman a little more trouble in the second set. The Lady Trojans jumped out to a 7-0 lead to put the Lady Bearcats in a hole early and found themselves on top 13-7 midway through the set. Cullman didn’t lay down and managed to cut the lead to 18-13 at one point but the early lead was too much to overcome and Mountain Brook held on to take the next set 25-13.
The third set looked a lot more like the first. Both teams went back and forth early and couldn’t much more than a 2 or 3-point lead until the Lady Bearcats used a small run to pull ahead 13-9 midway through the set. However, Mountain Brook was able to come back to tie things up at 13 and eventually moved in front 18-15. The scoring run continued for the Lady Trojans as they pulled ahead 22-18 but Cullman wasn’t done yet. The Lady Bearcats rallied and came from behind to tie the set at 25 and force some extra time in the third set. The set remained tied at 26 and then at 27 as neither team could pull away until a serve out of bounds gave Cullman a 1-point lead and a hit after bounds from Mountain Brook followed to give the Lady Bearcats a 29-27 come from behind win to force a fourth set.
Cullman’s momentum from late in the third set carried over into the fourth. The Lady Bearcats jumped out to an early 4-1 lead that they eventually stretched out to 11-3. Mountain Brook was able to respond and trim the lead to 12-9 midway through the set and unfortunately for the Cullman fans in the stands, it was time for the Lady Spartans to mount a comeback. They rallied to tie the score at 17 before pulling ahead to take a 21-18 lead late in the set. The momentum continued to build for Mountain Brook until it secured a 25-18 win in the third set to knock off the Lady Bearcats and advance to next week’s state tournament.
Donoho 3 – Meek 0 (16-25, 13-25, 12-25)
The Lady Tigers advanced to face Donoho in their second match of the North Regional after sweeping Holy Spirit Catholic in the opening round. The Lady Falcons provided a little more resistance for Meek. Donoho built an 8-4 lead in the first set that grew to 12-7 as the match went on. The Lady Tigers managed to cut the deficit to 16-12 at one point but a 5-2 scoring run gave the Lady Falcons a 21-14 lead and Donoho pulled away to take the first set 25-16.
Meek and Donoho were knotted at 5 early in the second set but it wasn’t long before the Lady Falcons began to create separation. Donoho moved in front 9-7 and continued adding to its lead, pulling ahead 15-8 midway through the match. The lead stretched to 20-12 as the set went on and the Lady Falcons were able to take the second set 25-13 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Match number three between the Lady Tigers and Lady Falcons was tied at 5 early once again but similar to what happened in the second set, Donoho settled in and began building a lead. The Lady Falcons pulled ahead 13-7 midway through the set and maintained a 15-10 lead as the match went on. Donoho continued to add to its lead, making it 18-10 late in the set before going going to complete the sweep with a 25-12 win.
Addison 3 – Spring Garden 0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-17)
The Lady Bulldogs continued rolling in their second set of the day. They led just 7-5 over Spring Garden early but were able to move in front 16-12 midway through the opening set. Addison held a 20-16 lead late in the set and withstood a late run from the Lady Panthers to win the set 25-22 and take a 1-0 lead.
The Lady Bulldogs made short work of Spring Garden in the next set, building an early 9-5 lead that they extended to 13-7 midway through the set. Addison pulled ahead 20-10 to make things tough on the Lady Panthers and the Lady Bulldogs went on to win it 25-17 to move ahead 2-0.
Addison and Spring were tied at 8 early in the third set but the Lady Bulldogs pulled ahead 12-9 to put the pressure back on the other side of the net. Spring Garden responded and continued to trade points with Addison until the Lady Panthers trailed just 18-16 late in the set. However, the Lady Bulldogs were able to maintain their focus and finish the set to collect a 25-17 win and their second sweep of the day.
Addison finished the evening by sweeping Hatton in the North Regional finals and will be the top-seeded north team at next week’s state tournament.
West Point, Fairview and Vinemont will be in action at the North Regional Tournament Thursday.
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