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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

VINCENT – After getting a bounce-back 3-0 win in area play at Holy Family Catholic on Thursday, Sept. 19, the Vincent Yellow Jackets are now on a three-match win streak and trending in the right direction as the season hits the home stretch.

Vincent made it back-to-back wins in area play on Monday, Sept. 23 with a 3-2 win over the Cornerstone Schools of Alabama Eagles, and it followed that up with another 3-2 victory on Tuesday, Sept. 24, this time over the Class 5A Shelby County Wildcats at Vincent Middle High School.

In the first game of the week against Cornerstone, Vincent fell behind to start the match as it dropped the opening set 25-20.

However, the Jackets came surging back in the second set and claimed control of the match.

Vincent established a solid lead over the Eagles and saw out the second-match victory to win by a score of 25-16.

It continued that momentum into the third set as it once again took a 25-16 victory, flipping a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead that put the pressure on Cornerstone to avoid a loss.

The Jackets and Eagles were tightly contested in the fourth set as both sought to take the pivotal set in the match.

While Vincent sat just a point away from sending the set to extra points, Cornerstone took the fourth set 25-23 to send the match to a decisive fifth set.

The Jackets surged back and offered a definitive response, building out a big lead and seeing it out for the win.

Vincent won the fifth set 15-6 to seal the 3-2 match victory for their second-straight win in area play.

That gave the Jackets plenty of momentum heading into a county battle against Shelby County that next night.

In a rematch of their five-set thriller in Columbiana on Sept. 9, and with the Wildcats looking for a response after losing 3-0 to Sylacauga in area play on Sept. 23, both teams once again were tightly matched and fought it out for the win.

That close nature started in the first set where only a couple of points separated the two sides. In the end, Vincent closed out the set strong, taking a 25-23 win to get a leg up in the match.

From there, the Jackets continued to ride their momentum to go up in the second set and take a lead that they would not relinquish down the stretch.

Vincent took the 25-21 win to go up 2-0 in the match, but from there, the Wildcats responded with a rally to even things up.

In another closely contested set, Shelby County withstood the pressure of facing a sweep and saw out the win in the final moments of the set to take a 25-21 win.

That win helped the Wildcats stay alive in the match before they tied it up at 2-2 in the fourth set.

Vincent tried to put the match away with a win in the fourth set as it sat just a couple of points away from tying up the set, but Shelby County earned the victory and sent the match to a fifth set.

With the match now tied up and hanging in the balance, the teams fought to get the upper hand in the set. In the end, it was the Jackets which ended up on top and held off the Wildcats for the 15-13 win, sealing their second five-set win in as many days.

Vincent will look to make it four straight wins with a rematch against Cornerstone, this time on the road in Woodlawn on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.

As for Shelby County, it will have the rest of the week off before hosting Thorsby on Monday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. and West Blocton on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m.