Curry's Mary Beth Scott (20) prepares to spike the ball as Walker's Polly Scruggs (22) tries to make the block during their area match at Curry High School Thursday. Curry won the match in five sets to claim the regular-season area title. (Photo by Johnathan Bentley)
Down five points in the fifth and deciding set, Curry finally took control. The Lady Yellow Jackets rallied from behind for a 17-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-27, 15-13 victory.
“Those game 5s are gut-checks,” Curry coach Mike Myers said. “It came down to who wanted it more. This was just one of those back-and-forth matches. Walker made plays and we made plays. We just happened to make two more than they did.”
The win gives Curry the Class 5A, Area 12 regular-season title. The Lady Yellow Jackets will host the area tournament on Oct. 12. Curry is the top seed followed by Walker, Mortimer Jordan and Hayden.
Curry (30-13, 5-0) will close out area play against Mortimer Jordan next week.
“We needed a game like this, especially at this time of year. It’s always good to play a hard-fought, intense, back-and-forth game,” Myers said.
In the match, Chloe Bennett led Curry with 17 kills, Mary Beth Scott had 13 and Alayna Jordan added seven. Nikki Brooks had five blocks, Kaitlyn Wilson contributed 17 digs, Payton Norris had 15 digs, Scott had 12 digs, Alex Allred led the team with 23 assists and Amber Graham added 18 assists.
Walker closed out the day with a win over McAdory.
Walker will play Curry at 10 a.m. in the opener of the Haleyville Tourmament on Saturday.
Carbon Hill wins area title
Carbon Hill outlasted Cordova in five sets to earn the Class 3A, Area 11 title at Cordova High School on Thursday.
The Lady Bulldogs earned a 21-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21, 15-12 victory and will host the area tournament on Oct. 11.
For Carbon Hill, Jamielee Jenkins led the way with 10 kills while Paige Hadder added nine.
Carbon Hill will host Haleyville and Winston County in a tri-match on Tuesday.
Parrish takes down Berry
The Parrish Lady Tornadoes wrapped up their area Thursday at Berry.
Parrish topped Berry in five sets and then beat Brilliant in three. The Lady Tornadoes began with a win over Berry, 17-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-23 and 16-14.
Chelsea Nix had 23 kills and 35 digs to lead Parrish (19-13, 4-0) while Mackenzie Morgan had seven kills and Taylor Winchester added six aces. Sha Sha Hubbard had 30 digs.
Parrish then topped Brilliant 25-19, 22-25 and 15-8.
Nix had six kills, Hubbard had three aces and Jamie Beth Hocutt managed five assists.
Parrish will play again at Cordova on Monday and will host the area tournament on Oct. 11.