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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

DORA – The Montevallo Bulldogs recovered from a slow start at the Corner Tournament to bring home hardware, as the Bulldogs won the Silver Bracket on Saturday, Sept. 2.

Montevallo was placed into the Silver Bracket after losing all three of their pool play games, but once they hit bracket play, the Bulldogs found their winning ways.

In the first round against the Pleasant Grove Spartans, Montevallo gained a comfortable lead in the first set, and they came out on top with a 25-16 win. The Bulldogs had a tougher fight in store in the second set, but they still took the set, 25-19, and sealed the deal on the match with a straight set win.

Jordan led Montevallo in kills for the second straight match with nine kills, and she also had five aces and four digs to lead the Bulldogs in both categories as well.

Jordan wasn’t the only top performer for Montevallo in the match. Guardado had 10 assists, Baggett earned five kills and Lawley and Rosemery Hernandez each had a pair of aces.

The Bulldogs moved on to the championship match of the Silver Bracket, and their reward was a rematch with the Paul W. Bryant Stampede, who beat Montevallo in pool play.

Montevallo stepped onto the floor ready to go, and they used the momentum from their win over Pleasant Grove to jump out to a 25-15 first set win.

The Bulldogs would go on to win the second set by an even wider margin, as they took the second set, 25-13, to cruise to the Silver Bracket championship with a sweep win.

Jordan had nine kills for the second straight match to lead the Bulldogs in kills for the third straight match, and she also led in digs again with 10.

Bailey Hamrick had a solid game serving the ball with five aces to her name. Guardado also had 10 assists for the second straight match as she guided the Bulldogs to a win in the final.

Before Montevallo reached the championship game, the Bulldogs started their tournament against the host Corner Yellow Jackets. Corner opened up a big lead in the first set and went on to win the opening frame, 25-9. Montevallo fought back in the second set and drew closer, but the Yellow Jackets were able to close out the match with a 25-19 score.

Afterwards, Montevallo faced the Leeds Green Wave for their next matchup of the day. The opening set was a tightly fought battle, and the two teams took the fight deep into extra points. In the end, the Bulldogs came out on top with a 28-25 win in the first set.

However, Leeds recovered well from that point and took the second set, 25-19, to even up the match. The Green Wave pulled away and won the third and decisive set, 15-6, to beat the Bulldogs.

Zoe Jones led Montevallo with 14 kills, and Hunter Jordan also had a solid day with seven kills of her own. Jones and Riley Fletcher each had a pair of aces, and Emili Guardado led the Bulldogs in both assists and digs with 15 and seven, respectively.

From there, Montevallo faced the Paul W. Bryant Stampede to close out their pool play slate. The first set was about as tight as it could be, and the Bulldogs were unable to top the Stampede in time and lost the set, 25-23.

After that, the Bulldogs came out strong in the second set. They jumped out on the Stampede and eventually won the set, 25-11, to even up the match.

Montevallo and Paul W. Bryant continued their battle in the third set, which came down to the wire as both teams fought for a win. The set eventually came down to extra points, and the Stampede took the final two points to win the set, 16-14, and the match, 2-1.

Jordan led the way in kills for Montevallo with 11, Blakely Baggett had six kills and Carter Lawley had five as well. Fletcher and Lawley both had tremendous matches from the service line, as Fletcher had five aces and Lawley had four.

Guardado had 17 assists on offense for the Bulldogs, and on defense, Jordan led with six digs.