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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA – After back-to-back losses, the Shelby County Wildcats got back on track with a dominant win over the Jackson-Olin Mustangs to kick off the final week of the regular season.

Shelby County defeated Jackson-Olin in a 3-0 sweep on Tuesday, Oct. 7 as part of senior night at Shelby County High School.

Before the match, the Wildcats fell in their previous two matches to the Billingsley Bears and Jemison Panthers.

The Billingsley loss came in 3-1 fashion on Thursday, Oct. 2 after Shelby County won the first set. Halle Gilbert racked up 10 aces in addition to her six kills, Wendy McGehee had 15 digs and 11 assists, Janie Mooney earned 14 digs and Madison Tolleson made it three double-digit dig earners with 10 digs.

The Wildcats then dropped a 3-0 sweep to Jemison on Monday, Oct. 6. Kaydence Connell earned five kills as McGehee finished with 11 assists and seven digs and Abbye Joiner earned five digs.

That set the stage for senior night as Shelby County honored its seniors Peyton Cannady, McGehee, Joiner, Eva Walker, Connell, Maddie Talton and Jaci Bates.

The Wildcats rolled early in the match as they quickly took a double-digit lead and got the advantage over the Mustangs in the first set.

From there, Shelby County tripled Jackson-Olin’s point total and earned a 35-8 win in the first set to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The dominance only continued as McGehee put a special stamp on her senior night. She took the service line to start the set and helped the Wildcats win 15-straight points to open the second set.

While Jackson-Olin eventually broke the run and ended the perfect game bid 10 points short, Shelby County remained in control and finished off the set with a 19-point win. The Wildcats won the second set by a score of 25-6 to increase their hold on the match to a 2-0 lead.

The Mustangs found their best footing in the match during the third set as they broke into double figures for the first time all day. However, it proved to be too little, too late as Shelby County kept a firm grip on the momentum and pulled away for its third-consecutive set win.

With that, the Wildcats won the third set in 25-16 fashion to finish the 3-0 sweep of Jackson-Olin.

Walker led Shelby County with six kills while Connell and Talton tied for five kills each. McGehee stood out in both the offense and in service, securing 14 assists and eight aces. The Wildcats finished with 23 aces overall, and Bates secured five of those while Walker secured three aces.

What’s more, the Wildcats needed to dig out just nine balls, a further testament to their dominance in the win.

The victory took Shelby County to 12-6 overall. The Wildcats will finish the regular season with Central-Coosa County on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 5:30 p.m. at Shelby County High School.