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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Pelham Panthers showed their grit and determination once again in another tight area battle as they came away victorious once again.

Pelham defeated Spain Park 3-2 in both teams’ final area match of the regular season on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at Spain Park High School.

As a result of the Panthers’ victory on the road, they finished the regular season 6-0 against Class 6A, Area 8 opponents. Pelham has now won eight straight matches in area play dating back to the 2023 area tournament semifinals.

While the Panthers walked out of the match as the winners, they were on the back foot to start the match after the Jags narrowly beat them out in the opening set of the showdown.

While Pelham got within a few points of tying up the set, Spain Park held on and grabbed the first set win by a score of 25-21.

The Jags carried that momentum into the second set and established a more comfortable lead over their county foes.

Spain Park went on to win the second set 25-17. That put the hosts up 2-0 and just one set win away from getting a crucial match victory ahead of the postseason.

The second-set result also put the Panthers’ perfect area mark at risk of being snapped. However, Pelham responded in a massive way in the following set.

The Panthers flipped the momentum of the match right back into their favor as they built out a commanding advantage.

From there, Pelham cruised to a 25-13 third-set win, and the double-digit victory kept the match alive.

The Jags bounced back and made the fourth set a much closer affair and the tightest set of the match.

With just two points separating them from Spain Park while on set point, the Panthers held fast and took a 25-22 victory in the fourth.

That left the teams tied up at two set wins apiece and sent them to a fifth and final set to decide a winner.

After taking the previous two set wins, Pelham continued rolling along and finished the job in the final frame. The Panthers held off the Jags to claim a 15-9 win in the fifth set.

With the win, Pelham completed the reverse sweep after falling behind 2-0 in the match and sealed its perfect area play record.

Pelham will head down south ahead of the Shrimpfest on Oct. 11 and 12 in Gulf Shores for a tri-match at Spanish Fort High School on Thursday, Oct. 10. The Panthers will play the Spanish Fort Toros at 4:30 p.m. and face the Saraland Spartans at 5:30 p.m.

As for Spain Park, it will conclude the regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. as the team hosts the Springville Tigers for senior night at Spain Park High School.