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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

DEMOPOLIS — The Montevallo Bulldogs had to dig deep throughout their area semifinal matchup against the Jemison Panthers, but they survived and advanced into uncharted territory: the Class 5A super regionals.

Montevallo booked its spot in super regionals with a 3-2 win over Jemison on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at Demopolis High School.

The Bulldogs went on to lose to top seed Demopolis in the finals, but their runner-up finish was enough to reach super regionals in their first season in Class 5A.

Montevallo and the Panthers were tightly matched to start the game with a pair of razor close sets.

The first set required extra points to separate the teams after a 24-24 tie, but Montevallo stepped up and won back-to-back points to take the 26-24 victory.

Jemison made the second set a tight affair as well and got within a point of sending the teams to another round of extra points.

However, just like the first, the Bulldogs saw out the victory, this time by a score of 25-23, to take a commanding 2-0 lead of the match despite winning the first two sets by two points each.

That was when the momentum flipped on its head as the Panthers seized control of the match.

Jemison grabbed hold of the lead in the third set and stayed alive with a 25-17 victory.

That led to an even more dominant performance from the Panthers in the fourth set as they capitalized on the third-set win to cruise to a 25-12 win.

Jemison’s second-straight set win meant that the fifth set would decide who would advance to super regionals and who would go home.

Montevallo stood up to the pressure of the Panthers’ momentum, grabbed a hold of the lead in the fifth set and didn’t look back.

The Bulldogs powered their way to a 15-6 win in the fifth set to take the 3-2 match victory and advance to super regionals.

Montevallo then faced the host Demopolis in the finals and fought hard against the No. 1 team in the area.

The Tigers got the upper hand in the match with a 25-18 win in the first set, but the Bulldogs made the second set an even closer affair.

Montevallo got within striking distance in the second set. However, Demopolis took a 25-20 win to get within a set win of an area title.

That’s when the Bulldogs mounted a strong response to remain alive in the match. Montevallo surged to a 25-18 win in the third set to extend the match to a fourth set.

The Tigers put away the match with a 25-12 fourth-set win to take the 3-1 victory and the area title.

Montevallo will play in the south super regionals at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex in Montgomery and face Providence Christian on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 8:30 a.m.