Montevallo downs Indian Springs to clinch spot in regionals

Published 6:43 am Wednesday, October 23, 2019

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor 

LEEDS – The Montevallo Bulldogs volleyball team has had an impressive 2019 season, and on Tuesday, Oct. 22, it got just a little bit sweeter when the Bulldogs took down Indian Springs in the first round of the area tournament.

With the victory, the Bulldogs earned a spot in the regional round of the playoffs, and despite losing to Leeds in straight sets in the tournament championship, their season continued on to the postseason.

Montevallo beat Indian Springs in straight sets with relative ease behind set victories of 25-19, 25-17 and 25-9 to keep its season alive.

In the opening set of the match, the Bulldogs were able to capitalize on a better service game from start to finish. While Indian Springs failed to win more than two points in a row on serve throughout the set, Montevallo won service games six different times and posted multiple wins on serve on three different occasions.

The difference came when Montevallo was up by just one point at 18-17. The Bulldogs won serve back and went on to win five points in a row on serve to pull away for the 25-19 win in the first set.

It was almost an identical situation in the second set, as the two teams battled in a tight matchup for the majority of the set, but near the end, Montevallo was again able to make the plays to win.

The Bulldogs earned serve back up 19-17 and never gave it back to Springs. They went on to win the final six points of the set on serve to close out a 25-17 set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

At that point, Montevallo had all of the momentum, while Indian Springs was in a hole forced to win three consecutive sets to keep its season alive.

The Bulldogs new they had Springs reeling and took advantage in the third set to complete the sweep.

After battling to an 8-8 tie, Montevallo did what it had done so well all night by holding serve. The Bulldogs won five service points in a row to take a 14-9 lead, before then gaining serve back and winning a remarkable 10 service points in a row to close out a 25-9 set win.

With the win, the Bulldogs advance to the area tournament championship where they lost to Leeds in three sets.