5 more to regionals
- Updated: October 24, 2017
PV scores 50th victory to claim another area title; Alexandria, Weaver also win areas; 11 county teams headed to regionals
By East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — Pleasant Valley reached the 50-win plateau for the first time since 2001 when it beat Piedmont 3-0 for its 12th straight area volleyball tournament title Tuesday.
The host Lady Raiders (50-6) won the Class 3A Area 10 title match 25-9, 25-15, 25-10. They haven’t lost a set to an area opponent in at least nine years.
PV’s Mikayla Kendrick was named MVP. She had 11 kills, seven aces and a .500 hitting percentage.
Alexandria (38-8) and Weaver also won their area tournaments. Alexandria beat Douglas and Boaz in straight sets in the Class 5A Area 13 tournament and top-seeded Weaver beat Wellborn in straight sets in the Class 3A Area 9 tournament.
Eleven of Calhoun County’s 15 volleyball teams are now headed to regional tournaments in Huntsville and Montgomery this weekend, seven as area champions.
Alexandria’s Taylor Spradley was named MVP of her tournament. Weaver’s Mariah Thompson was named MVP in hers.
Piedmont (19-26) earned its first trip to the regional volleyball tournament since 2012 when it rallied to beat Glencoe 3-1 in the semifinal. The scores were 17-25, 25-11, 25-20, 25-14.
Regardless of the outcome in the finals, moving onto the regionals was the objective.
“It’s been such a long time for us and this bunch really deserves it,” Piedmont coach Grace Strott said. “They’ve worked their tails off. I’m happy for them.”
By winning, Piedmont also exorcised some demons from last year’s area tournament when they gave up a controlling lead on this floor and lost in five to the Yellow Jackets.
This one didn’t start well for the Lady Bulldogs. They fell behind 7-0 out of the gate and then Glencoe scored the final seven points of the set to take a 1-0 match lead.
But they bounced back to open the second set with a 13-0 run behind the serve of Carsyn Morrow. They had an 8-0 run to take control of the third set and an 11-1 run late in the fourth.
Morrow had 12 aces in the match. Sydney Prater had 10 kills.
Alexandria beat Boaz 25-17, 25-9, 25-19 in its final. Weaver beat Wellborn 25-21, 25-21, 25-16 in its final. Wellborn earned a regional spot with a 25-17, 25-13, 25-23 win over Ohatchee.
Read more on the PV, Alexandria and Weaver tournaments later at East Alabama Sports Today. To see a gallery of photos from the Weaver tournament visit www.bjfranklin.smugmug.com
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