MARIETTA - Lassiter swept both of its matches to create a logjam in the Area 1AAAAA standings after a tri-match Thursday with Kell and Sprayberry that finished the 1AAAAA regular-season for all three teams.

Lassiter defeated Sprayberry (25-21, 25-7) and then beat Kell (25-23, 25-27, 25-15) - with Kell beating Sprayberry (25-13, 25-20) - to pull into a three-way tie for second place in Area 1AAAAA alongside Kell and Walton. The No. 2 seed in next weekend's area tournament, which will be held next Thursday and Saturday, will be determined by point differential.

With its two losses Thursday, Sprayberry (16-18, 2-4) fell to the No. 5 seed in the 1AAAAA tournament after starting the day tied with Lassiter (27-16, 4-2) for fourth place.

The highlight of the evening was the Lassiter-Kell match, where the Lady Trojans bounced back from a 22-15 deficit in the first game of its match with Kell (25-18, 4-2) with a 10-1 run to beat the Lady Longhorns, 25-23.

"We got off to a slow start against Kell, but the girls fought back and came from behind," Lassiter coach Dottie Saye said. "The girls have been doing that all year and they managed to do it again. That's proof of their determination. It was an exciting match."

Kell coach Gena Ridings said her team simply wasn't able to maintain the intensity that it showed early in the first game against Lassiter.

"We started out fast and we looked really good," Ridings said. "Our intensity was real good entering into the match, but the girls started to get down and started worrying and they couldn't keep it up. Lassiter played a great defensive match."

Hannah Reinke had 18 kills and 17 digs, while Taylor Montgomery 16 kills and seven digs, Katy McCollister had 20 digs, Melissa Woodall had 14 digs, Laura Bufton had 11 digs and Emily Weissert had 50 assists to lead Lassiter in its two matches.

For Kell, Amanda Jones had 14 kills, six aces and 15 blocks, Olivia Corr had six kills, 12 digs, 1.5 blocks and three aces, Camille Pedraza had 21 digs and one ace and Taylor O'Brien had 28 assists, 14 digs, one ace and one block.

Kell jumped out to a 12-4 lead in game one against Lassiter, but the Lady Trojans proceeded to go on a 7-2 run to narrow the Lady Longhorn lead to 14-11.

Lassiter gradually increased its lead again and held a 22-15 advantage, but Kell proceeded to score six unanswered points to narrow the gap to 22-21.

Kell increased its lead to 23-21 on a Lassiter shot that went out, but the Lady Trojans scored the last four points to clinch the first game 25-23.

Lassiter scored the first two points of game two on kills by McCollister, but Kell proceeded to score six unanswered points to take a 6-2 lead and, though the Lady Trojans narrowed the gap and tied the score several times later in the game, managed to maintain its advantage for the rest of the game.

Lassiter came out swinging in the third and final game and took an early 8-1 advantage, but Kell gradually narrowed the gap to 11-7.

That's as close as Kell would get, however, as Lassiter gradually increased its lead and held a large advantage at the end.

goshust@mdjonline.com

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