HOLLY POND, Ala. – Holly Pond hosted this year’s Class 2A, Area 12 Tournament Thursday night and the Lady Broncos knocked off the Cleveland Lady Panthers and the Cold Springs Lady Eagles to claim this year’s area title and move on to next week’s North Regional Tournament in Huntsville.
Holly Pond 25 – Cold Springs 18 (First Set)
Holly Pond jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first set behind a pair of aces by Emma Earl, but Cold Springs answered with a run of their own as a point and an ace by Ciara Calvert made it 3-2. Later on, three straight points from the Lady Eagles, including a Cameron Baty ace, gave them a 5-4 lead. The Lady Broncos ended up getting the lead right back at 7-5, but an Alexis Tidwell kill tied things up at seven. Holly Pond scored five straight points as a point each by Ellie Burks and Blakely Baggett, and an Aliyah Ryan ace, gave them a 12-7 lead. The Lady Broncos added to their lead later on in the set as a kill from Kamryn Tankersley and an ace by Earl helped them push their lead to 20-11. The Lady Eagles made things a little interesting as Malaya Taylor and Tidwell each got a kill to help make it a 20-16 game. They later made it 22-17 on a Tidwell point, but Holly Pond was able to hold off Cold Springs at the end to take the first set, 25-18.
Holly Pond 25 – Cold Springs 19 (Second Set)
A kill from Tidwell gave Cold Springs a 3-2 lead early in the second set, but Kaylee Rohrscheib got an ace and that was followed by a point from Tankersley; that gave Holly Pond a 5-3 lead. The Lady Broncos pushed their lead to 7-4 on a point from Baggett, but a Tidwell kill cut it to 7-5. The second set was close as both teams traded leads and had several ties for a while. After a point by Tidwell tied things up at 15, Tankersley got an ace, which helped the Lady Broncos take a 17-15 lead. Holly Pond ended up pushing their lead to 23-16 on another point from Baggett. Once again, though, Cold Springs looked to make a late run as a Tidwell ace, followed by a point by Ciara Calvert, cut their deficit to just four at 23-19. The Lady Broncos ended up collecting the final two points of the second set as they ended up winning, 25-19.
Holly Pond 25 – Cold Springs 22 (Third Set)
A Tankersley kill, followed by an Earl ace, gave Holly Pond a quick 3-0 lead in the third set. Cold Springs tied things up at three on kills from Taylor and Tidwell, and an ace by Calvert. The Lady Broncos then proceeded to score the next five points, including a point each from Tankersley and Maycie Black, to take an 8-3 lead. Holly Pond later increased their lead to 11-5 on a point and ace from Tankersley and a Baggett kill. Cold Springs countered by scoring five straight points of their own as an Ellanora Slusser kill cut it to 11-10. The Lady Eagles would end up taking a 13-12 lead on consecutive aces by Tidwell. The Lady Broncos got the lead right back at 16-13 on a Black ace and a Tankersley kill. A Taylor kill tied things up at 16, but another Tankersley kill and a Baggett ace gave Holly Pond a 20-16 lead. Burks collected an ace to give the Lady Broncos a 23-18 lead, but Cold Springs looked to keep their chance of winning the title alive. Taylor got a kill and later on, another Baty ace made it a 23-21 game. It was 24-22 after Cold Springs collected a point, but Baggett ended up being the one to help clinch the area championship as her kill gave Holly Pond the 25-22 win in the third set to win the title.
Holly Pond’s Emma Earl, Maycie Black, and Kamryn Tankersley got All-Area and All-Tournament. For Cold Springs. Mary Warden, Alexis Tidwell, and Malaya Taylor got All-Area, while Mary Warden, Anna Stricklin, and Ciara Calvert got All-Tournament.
Holly Pond will take on the Area 16 runner-up on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville and Cold Springs will take on the Area 16 winner at 12:45 p.m.
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