VINEMONT, Ala. — It was a battle of the Eagles Thursday night as Vinemont hosted East Lawrence and this one went back-and-forth for the majority of the contest. Vinemont ended up winning a long, competitive five-set match over East Lawrence 3-2.
Vinemont 25 – East Lawrence 23 (First Set)
Vinemont jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, but East Lawrence went on a little run to cut it to 5-4. Behind a kill by Maggie Burks and a pair of aces from Brooklyn Knott, Vinemont collected five straight points to make it a 10-4 game. After East Lawrence made it a 10-9 game, Vinemont scored the next four points as a point by Burks and an ace from Carley Stephens pushed their lead to 14-9. East Lawrence made it a 14-12 game, but a kill by Jana Harbison made it 17-12. An ace from Morgan Flanagan increased Vinemont’s lead to 19-13, but East Lawrence scored the next four points to cut it to 19-17. Vinemont pushed its lead to 23-19 on a Brooklyn Knott ace and after East Lawrence cut it to 24-23, the Lady Eagles were able to collect the final point as they ended up winning the first set 25-23.
Vinemont 27 – East Lawrence 25 (Second Set)
The second set was a back-and-forth affair as both teams traded runs for most of this set. East Lawrence held a slim 5-3 lead, but a point by Burks cut it to 6-5. East Lawrence pushed their lead to 10-7, but Vinemont ended up tying things up at 10. That would be the first of several ties in this second set. East Lawrence held a 14-10 lead late in the set, but Vinemont came back to tie things up at 14. A point by Stephens, an ace from Knott, and a kill by Addison Holcomb broke a 17-all tie as that gave Vinemont a 20-17 lead. Vinemont held a 21-18 lead after a point by Burks, but East Lawrence rallied back to take a 22-21 lead. A point by Harbison tied things up at 23. After East Lawrence retook the lead at 25-24, Vinemont took over after that, as back-to-back points by Stephens gave them a 26-25 lead, and Knott finished off the second set with the game-winning point to give Vinemont a 27-25 win in the second set.
East Lawrence 26 – Vinemont 24 (Third Set)
Vinemont jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead behind a kill and an ace from Flanagan, but five straight points by East Lawrence gave them a 5-3 lead. The third set was a carbon copy of the second set as both teams had several ties, and they swapped leads more than a handful of times during the set. A point by Harbison tied it up at seven, and later on, an ace from Stephens gave Vinemont a 12-11 lead. East Lawrence rallied back to take a 16-14 lead and later held a 20-18 advantage. Vinemont scored the next three points, including one by Holcomb, to help give them a 21-20 lead. Vinemont held a slim 24-23 lead as they looked to finish off the sweep of East Lawrence, but they had different plans, though, as East Lawrence scored the final three points to take the third set 26-24.
East Lawrence 25 – Vinemont 21 (Fourth Set)
The fourth set saw both teams swapped leads and had several ties as well. Vinemont held a 3-2 lead after a Jacie James ace, and later made it a 6-4 game after a kill by Flanagan, an ace from Harbison, and a kill by Stephens. East Lawrence came back to take a 9-7 lead and later pushed their lead to 13-10. East Lawrence would increase their lead to 16-11, but Vinemont looked to go on a rally of their own as a kill by Holcomb cut it to 20-17. Later on, back-to-back kills by Harbison swiveled the deficit to just one at 21-20. But Vinemont wouldn’t get any closer after that, as East Lawrence finished off the set on a 4-1 run to take the fourth set 25-21 and set up the fifth and deciding set between both teams.
Vinemont 15 – East Lawrence 11 (Fifth Set)
East Lawrence held a slim 3-2 lead early on in the fifth set, but Vinemont went on a 5-0 run, which included another Flanagan, to take a 7-3 lead. Once again, though, East Lawrence came back to cut it to 8-7. An ace from Stephens made it 10-7, but East Lawrence ended up tying things up at 10. Four straight points by Vinemont, including a kill by Harbison, gave them a 14-10 lead. Vinemont was able to collect the final point of the set and the game as they knocked off East Lawrence in the fifth set 15-11 to take the series 3-2.
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