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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – The Montevallo Bulldogs suffered a brief setback in their hopes to end the regular season atop Class 5A, Area 5, but they got exactly the win they needed to regain their momentum.

Montevallo swept the Selma Saints 3-0 on Thursday, Sept. 19 at Montevallo High School to snap a two-match losing skid in area play.

The Bulldogs lost to Demopolis in straight sets on Tuesday, Sept. 10 before making a run to third place in the Thompson South of Town Showdown on Saturday, Sept. 14 with wins over Paul W. Bryant, Elberta and Calera.

However, after defeating Jemison in their first meeting, Montevallo dropped a 3-1 result to the Panthers on the road on Tuesday, Sept. 17, making their second match of the season against Selma important to regaining ground in the area standings.

Just like their first meeting, the Bulldogs started out the match fully in control and remained that way down the stretch for a convincing win over the Saints.

Montevallo built out a big lead in the first set and saw it out to secure the 25-7 win to go up 1-0 in the match.

Selma made the second set closer than the first, but down the stretch, it couldn’t narrow the double-digit deficit and fell once again.

Montevallo saw out the 25-13 victory in the second set to increase its control over the match with a 2-0 lead.

From there, the Bulldogs once again kept the Saints from gaining any momentum in the set, taking another large lead and limiting Selma to single digits on the scoreboard for the second time in the match.

In the end, Montevallo took the 25-8 win in the third set to finish out the 3-0 victory, its second over the Saints in the 2024 season, which sealed the regular season series win for the Bulldogs.

With the win, the Bulldogs are now 15-10 on the season with a 3-2 mark in area play, and they will face Demopolis in their final area match on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

Before then, though, they have two matches, starting with a showdown with the Isabella Mustangs on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at Montevallo High School.