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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA – After an 0-4 start to the season, the Shelby County Wildcats are back on the right track after securing their second win in a row, this time in a county battle.

Shelby County fought for a 3-2 victory in five sets over the Vincent Yellow Jackets on Monday, Sept. 9 at Shelby County High School.

“I was proud of our girls for gaining the momentum back in the fourth and deciding fifth set,” Shelby County coach William McGehee said. “We did a great job of turning the energy back on and accepting the challenge from their front row.”

The Wildcats entered the match with some big momentum after sweeping Thorsby 3-0 on Sept. 5 to earn their first win of the season.

Vincent, on the other hand, was looking to regain some steam after losing 3-1 to Westminster OM in area play on Sept 5.

That set up a big battle between county opponents hoping to gain some positivity before their next area matches.

The Wildcats got off to a quick start in the match and took control early to get the lead.

That led to Shelby County seeing out a 25-18 first-set win, which put the hosts up 1-0 in the matchup.

However, the Jackets stormed back and dominated the next two sets.

Led by a strong front row, Vincent went on a big run and remained in control to take the 25-12 win in the second set.

With the match tied at one set win apiece, the Jackets had the opportunity to take the lead in the third set and didn’t pass it up.

The Wildcats made the third set more competitive, but it still ended the same way the second set did: with Vincent in front, this time by a score of 25-17.

That left Shelby County staring down the barrel of a 2-1 deficit in the match and needing to win its next two sets to claim the match.

The Wildcats responded in the face of another wave of Jackets pressure that made the fourth set another close affair. In the end, Shelby County took the 25-20 win in the set to send the teams to a fifth and final set.

With Vincent lurking closely behind as the final points of the match drew near, the Wildcats staved off the threat once again and secured the 15-12 fifth-set victory to earn the 3-2 match win.

Allison Blinkerd led the offense with 10 kills and three aces and also got three digs. Catelynn Davis had a team-high 10 digs along with a pair of assists. Kaydence Connell finished with five kills and an ace. Wendy McGehee also had a busy day on the stat sheet with 10 assists, four kills and three digs.

Shelby County will start area play on Thursday, Sept. 12 on the road against Central-Clay County at 6 p.m. The Wildcats will then host the Wildcat Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 14.

As for Vincent, after a valiant effort in pushing Class 5A Shelby County to the limit, it will return to area play on Thursday, Sept. 12 looking to improve on its 1-1 record so far in Area 9. The Jackets will host Cornerstone Schools of Alabama for a 7 p.m. match.