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The Montevallo Bulldogs won the area tournament championship on Wednesday, Oct. 14 by sweeping both Dallas County and Bibb County. (For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor  

MONTEVALLO – The Montevallo Bulldogs completed a dominant season of area play on Wednesday, Oct. 14, when they did what they had done all year and swept both Dallas County and Bibb County to be crowned area champions.

During the regular season, the Bulldogs dropped just two sets out of 20 played to earn hosting rights for the area tournament, and on Wednesday night, they took advantage of the home court advantage by beating the Hornets and Choctaws in straight sets.

With the wins, the Bulldogs not only get to call themselves area champs, but earned hosting rights for a sub-regional match and is now two wins away from advancing to the state tournament.

In the opening match against Dallas County, the Bulldogs wasted no time advancing to the championship match by not letting the Hornets reach double digit points in any of the three sets played.

Montevallo won the three sets 25-9, 25-6 and 25-7 to complete the sweep.

A big reason for that success was the play of Olivia Jackson, who posted 16 kills in the match. She was one of many to have a dominant opening set as Teasia Purnell, Riaunna Inabinette, Kayce Sankey and Anna Kate Jackson all had at least four kills in the opening match.

Anna Kate Jackson also led the team with 14 assists, while Olivia Jackson led the team with 10 digs. Sankey, Camile Holmes, Purnell and Inabinette all had at least four digs as well.

Montevallo used that confidence and carried it into the second match against Bibb County.

With the championship on the line, the Bulldogs again looked like they did in the first match to start the title match.

They came out and held the Choctaws to single digits in the first two sets, getting off to strong starts, and eventually pulling away for 25-9 wins in both sets.

With that 2-0 lead, they were just one set away from claiming the area title, and the nerves crept in a bit in the third set.

Bibb County was able to keep it close for a while, but it still wasn’t nearly enough for the visitors to overcome Montevallo’s dominant night on the court.

The Bulldogs eventually created enough separation and coasted to a 25-15 victory to pick up another sweep and take the area title.

In the championship match, Olivia Jakcson led the way with 11 aces, nine kills, seven digs and three blocks, while Inabinette added nine kills and seven digs.

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