By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

BIRMINGHAM – It took 225 points and over two hours of gameplay, but Indian Springs eventually defeated the third-place team out of the North Super Regional, the Lexington Lady Bears, in the 3A Elite Eight in five sets, 29-27, 25-21, 22-25, 23-25, 15-13 to move on to the Final Four.

While the score suggests the two were evenly matched, and no doubt they were, the two had very little in common with the way they played the game. Lexington was a hard-hitting team, with Rebekah Hambright, Andra McGee and Morgan Stults carrying the majority of the offensive load. Springs, on the other hand, rotated in nine players and was much deeper than the Lady Bears, and made fewer mental errors while playing a better defensive game.

After falling behind in the first set 5-12, Springs battled back and won 10 of the next 13 points to move even with Lexington at 15-15. From there, and essentially throughout the remainder of the match, the two were neck and neck. The two were never more than a point ahead or behind one another from 22-22 to 27-27 before Springs finally got the first set in come-from-behind fashion, 29-27.

“(That set says) that we persevere,” Indian Springs head coach Tiffany Hunter said after the match. “Sometimes our passing breaks down a little bit, but I just told the girls to get a pass, and that we had to terminate that first ball. That was the key to that game. The Lexington girls really put the ball down and had very good hitters.”

After taking the second set 25-21 and going up 2-0, Springs seemed to be in complete control of the match. But Lexington wasn’t done and powered back to win sets three and four behind strong play from Hambright and Stults especially, setting up a winner-take-all fifth set.

“(Going into the fifth) I was telling our girls I really needed them to space it out a little bit,” Hunter said. “And again, I just told them we needed to terminate that first ball and pass the ball.”

Springs never trailed in the fifth set, but Lexington stayed close the whole set, closing in as close as 13-12 late in the match before Springs put the finishing touch on the match, winning the fifth set 15-12.

With the win, Springs moves to 32-3 on the season.

Ava Davis had 20 digs and 58 assists for Springs while Margot Balliet had 22 kills, two blocks and 18 digs to lead the way. Springs will take on Madison Academy, the No. 1 seed out of the North Super Regional, at 3:30 p.m.