CULLMAN – If you are a fan of great volleyball action, then Tuesday was the day and Cullman was the place for you as the Lady Bearcats welcomed the Brewer Lady Patriots to town for an area showdown.
Cullman got the match going with two quick points, a hit from Tiffani Schwaiger and a punch by Kennedy Wren before Brewer got on the board with a finesse touch from Kelsey Borden that barely cleared the top of the net. This got Brewer going and lead to a 12-2 run. Down but not out, Cullman drew closer with a pair of nice digs and solid play around the net. Brewer then took over the set thanks largely in part to the play of Shyan Flack who had three wicked kills and an ace on the way to a 25-12 Lady Patriots victory in set one.
It was all Cullman in set two. The first four points of the set were evenly distributed with nice kills from both Cullman’s Anna Evans and Brewer’s McCarley Northway, but the Lady Bearcats took advantage of a plethora of Brewer miscues and jumped out to a four-point lead that Brewer could not overcome. Evans sealed the set for Cullman with a nice block to thwart a Brewer kill, allowing Cullman to take the set 25-15. Evans finished the set with three kills and a block.
In set three the momentum swung back in the favor of the Lady Patriots. The set was close for the first 18 points with Brewer squeezing out a two-point lead. However, when the Lady Patriots hit the 10-point mark, they turned up the heat and finished the set on a 16-5 run that finished with a Borden kill to give Brewer the set 25-14.
Set four was a thrilling affair. Cullman opened the set on a 7-3 run including the first three points before Brewer could find footing. Flack, Borden and Carly Fairbanks got the Lady Patriots back in the set with back-to-back-to-back kills, leading to a 6-0 run. Cullman pulled back even at 10 thanks to a soft kill from Schwaiger. From here, the action see-sawed back and forth with the biggest lead, never surpassing three points. With the win by two rule in effect and Cullman up 26-25, Flack took matters into her own hands with an ace and a kill to put Brewer on top 27-26 to set up a match ending kill from Borden to give the Lady Patriots the set 28-26 and the match 3-1.
Cullman defeated Athens in non-area play 2-1.
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