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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA – The Montevallo Bulldogs took their battle with county rivals, the Shelby County Wildcats, with a 3-0 straight-set win at Shelby County High School on Tuesday, Oct. 3.

Before the match, Shelby County honored its two seniors on Senior Night. Anna Rodriguez and Madison Wood were both recognized between the JV and varsity matches for their contributions

Montevallo got off to a strong start in the first set as the Bulldogs established control early in the match.

Montevallo took the win in the opening set, 25-16, which gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead to take command of the match.

From there, Montevallo kept its foot on the gas and kept building momentum towards a win. The Bulldogs took another wide lead in the second set and finished out the set on top.

Montevallo took a 2-0 lead in the match after winning the second set by the same score as the first, 25-16.

In the third set, the Bulldogs closed out the match with another strong set, as the visitors took the set by their largest margin of victory in the match, 25-15, to seal with sweep win.

Zoe Jones had another strong night for the Montevallo offense with 20 kills while hitting for +.293. She also won seven aces on the service line to lead all Bulldogs players on the service line. Hunter Jordan had six kills and two blocks.

Emeli Guardado earned 22 assists from the setter spot while also taking four aces and six digs. Jaida Heath split assisting duties with Guardado as she earned eight assists.

Isabella Ramirez and Bailey Hamrick both tied for the team’s dig lead with seven, and Blakely Baggett earned five digs as well to cap off a 45-dig performance from the Bulldogs’ defense.

Montevallo will have another county matchup on Thursday, Oct. 5 against Vincent ahead of the area tournament on Tuesday, Oct. 17, which the Bulldogs will host. Shelby County will have a week off before its final match of the regular season against Bibb County on Tuesday, Oct. 10.