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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

DEMOPOLIS – The Montevallo Bulldogs got halfway to a perfect area record with another strong performance on the road, this time at Demopolis High School.

Montevallo defeated Demopolis 3-1 on Thursday, Sept. 18 to move to 3-0 in Class 5A, Area 5 play.

The Bulldogs had to face a tight first set thanks to an early effort by the Tigers to grab hold of the match. However, the visitors took the lead and held it through the final points.

Montevallo won the first set by a score of 25-21 to take a 1-0 lead in the matchup.

That first-set success carried over into the second set, where the Bulldogs dominated even more. Montevallo strung points together and refused to let Demopolis have a shot to win the set down the stretch.

The effort first gave the Bulldogs a double-digit lead, and then it led to Montevallo securing the second set in 25-13 fashion.

The script then flipped in the third set as despite the Bulldogs having a chance to seal the match win, the Tigers bounced back and fought to extend the match.

Demopolis did just that, winning the third set by a score of 25-17 to extend the match to a fourth set.

Montevallo recovered though and fought through another close set to take care of business and finish off the match victory. The Bulldogs kept the Tigers at an arm’s length down the stretch and earned the set victory.

Montevallo won the fourth set 25-19 to win the match 3-1 and improve to 3-0 in area play.

Zoe Jones led the way for the Bulldogs offense with a team-high 20 kills to go with her four aces and nine digs. Her fellow senior Hunter Jordan had 18 kills and secured four blocks, one of which was a solo block.

Rosemery Hernandez and Emeli Guardado split the setting duties with Hernandez earning 16 assists and Guardado took 14 assists. Guardado ended the night with a double-double as she also earned 10 digs, the same number of digs as junior Sarah Kayte Lash to tie for the team high.

The Bulldogs are now 12-4 overall in addition to their 3-0 mark in area play. Montevallo will now play in the HeffStrong Tournament on Sept. 19 and 20 at the Finley Center in Hoover.

Pool play will start with a matchup against the Saraland Spartans on Friday, Sept. 19 at 5 p.m. From there, Montevallo will face the McAdory Yellow Jackets at 7 p.m. that night before a 9 a.m. match with the Chelsea Hornets on Saturday, Sept. 20.