Then there was one

PELHAM - Melissa Hammond said she was more nervous than usual at the start of Wednesday's Class 2A Elite Eight at the Pelham Civic Complex.

Senior middle Taylor Chapman said it was business as usual for her fifth straight trip to Pelham.

"I guess I was more nervous because we had such a tough first match," Hammond admitted after the Bears beat Ohatchee and Sand Rock without dropping a game. "Playing that tough of a team right off the bat, I was nervous."

Chapman, who had 16 kills and five blocks against Sand Rock, a 3-0 win that put the Bears in today's championship match, said she was confident her team would find its way to the finals for the fourth straight year.

"We knew what we had to do," she said.

Lexington beat Sand Rock 25-12, 25-20, 25-18 to reach the final after downing a good Ohatchee team 25-18, 25-23, 25-19.

"We played well this morning," Hammond said. "We were a little down this afternoon, but the girls played well."

To win a third consecutive title, the Bears will have to beat top-ranked Addison (68-3) for the first time in four tries today.

"I don't know what it is that we haven't been able to beat them this year," Chapman said. "We're pretty even with them. I guess they have just wanted it a little more than we have. We'll find out who wants it more (in the finals.)."

After winning the first game against Sand Rock easily, the Bears fell behind 9-0 in the second game. Sparked by Chapman and Toner, the Bears finally pulled even at 16 and then ended the game with a 5-1 run.

Lexington ran out to a 7-2 lead in the third game and coasted into the championship match.

n Lexington 3, Ohatchee 0: Lexington survived a tight match with Ohatchee to advance to the semifinals as Chapman and Toner had 23 and 13 kills respectively. Greer had 41 assists.

Ohatchee used its athletic middle and outside hitters to hang close to the Bears in all three games. Lexington went on a game-ending 9-3 run to win the first game, and then rallied in the second game to win 25-23.

Lexington broke a 10-all tie and went on to win the third game 25-19.

Class 4A

n UMS-Wright 3, Brooks 2: UMS-Wright and Brooks battled back and forth for nearly two hours before the Bulldogs pulled out an 18-16 win in the fifth game to eliminate the Lions.

Brooks (47-20) was making its first appearance at the Elite Eight since 2002 and was a point away from falling behind 2-0 after losing the first game 25-21. But the Lions held off two game points and went on to a 29-27 win on a pair of Brooke Bacon kills.

When Brooks won the third game 25-14, it appeared the Lions were on the way to a semifinal matchup with top-ranked Guntersville. UMS-Wright (39-13) forced a final game with a 25-18 win.

In the deciding game, Brooks held off two match points before the Bulldogs finally pulled out the win.

"UMS-Wright being down here all the time helped them out a lot," coach Ryan Roberson said. "Brooke Dial made a lot of big plays for them. She's a great player - hats off to her."

Roberson said his team never got into a consistent rhythm offensively.

"We didn't get as many swings as we usually do," he said. "That hurt. We had a lot tips and that's not our game. We have to get a lot of swings to be effective."

Brooke Bacon, one of only two seniors, led Brooks with 21 kills. Jessi Blackstock added 14 kills and Leslie Hendricks had 20 digs.

Stephanie Gautney had 34 assists.

Dial led UMS-Wright with 14 kills. Nichole Dzwonkowski had 11 kills and 11 digs.

"This was a great accomplishment for these girls," Roberson said. "Nobody expected them to be down here. They were the only ones who thought they could do it. They have set a good foundation for the future."

n Briarwood 3, Muscle Shoals 1: A slow start hampered Muscle Shoals in its bid to advance past the first round as Briarwood easily won the first two games.

The Trojans played from behind most of the match, dropping the first two games 25-10, 25-13.

Muscle Shoals won the third game 27-25, rallying from a 22-17 deficit to force a third game, but Briarwood jumped in front 6-1 in the fourth game and closed out the match 25-19.

"The last two games were more like we are capable of playing," a disappointed coach Brenda Mayes said. "I told the players we beat ourselves. We had an opportunity to at least make it to the Final Four, but we didn't start off like we normally do. We waited two or three games, and you can't do that."

Julia Hoke had 13 kills to lead Briarwood (32-23). Sara Kate Bracewell and Kate Carter had 10 kills each. Andrea Hard finished with seven blocks.

Amy Johnson had nine kills and Ashley May contributed eight for Muscle Shoals.

Briarwood raced to a 16-4 lead in the first game and opened an 18-8 lead in the second to put the Trojans in an early hole.

In the third game, Muscle Shoals fought back after trailing by five points and won it on back-to-back kills by Kendra Higinbotham and Ashley May.

But the Trojans couldn't sustain the momentum in the fourth game as their season came to an end.

Gregg Dewalt can be reached at 740-5748 or gregg.dewalt@TimesDaily.com.

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