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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Briarwood Christian Lions needed just nine sets to run through Class 5A, Area 8 and ensure the road to regionals goes through Briarwood Christian School.

Briarwood swept the Central Volunteers of Clay County 3-0 on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at Briarwood Christian School to finish area play with a perfect 3-0 record.

As a result, the Lions will have the No. 1 seed in the area tournament, which will be held at Briarwood Christian School on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 4 p.m.

Briarwood will have a rematch with Central-Clay County in the semifinals while Shelby County will face Sylacauga in the other match. The two winners will face each other in the finals and also advance to the South Super Regionals.

Despite rotating most of the starters to give younger players some opportunities, the Lions rolled quickly to an early lead against an outmatched Vols side.

Briarwood eventually tripled Central-Clay’s point total and took the first set by a score of 25-8 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Lions continued to be in control in the second set and grew their lead to another commanding one over the course of the frame. Briarwood took the second set by a score of 25-12 to get on the doorstep of finishing off the match.

That set up another strong performance in the third set. While the Vols got more points on the board over the course of the match, Briarwood still comfortably won the set to secure the match win.

The Lions earned the 3-0 sweep with a 25-14 win in the third set.

With that, Briarwood earned its third area sweep to finish area play without dropping a single set.

Eighth grade setter Stella Woods directed the offense with 25 assists. Freshman Coley Barnes led the attack with seven kills while freshman Helen Morrison and eighth grader Carsyn O’Quinn finished with six kills apiece.

The Lions improved to 20-2 overall in addition to their 3-0 area record. Briarwood will have a tough road test to the Class 6A Mountain Brook Spartans on Thursday, Sept. 25 at 5:30 p.m. at Mountain Brook High School.