Saline Volleyball Takes Down Rival Bedford for District Title

The third time was the charm for the Saline volleyball team when the Hornets defeated rival Bedford for the D1 district title Friday night.

The SEC rivals had previously met twice this season with Bedford winning both matches in league play and the SEC Red jamboree, but it was the Hornets who came up with the huge win Friday night 25-22, 17-25, 25-22, 25-11 to advance to the regional in Mason this week.

Bedford was on the verge of taking the first set with a 24-22 lead, but the Hornets staved off two set points and a Harper Klein kill capped off the four point rally to give Saline the set 26-24.

Bedford bounced back to take the second set to set up a huge third set.

The Mules led 22-20, but five straight service points by Lexi Newton helped the Hornets to the 25-22 set win and a 2-1 lead.

Saline jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth set behind four straight points by Karlie Smith, but Bedford held tough and kept the game close.

The Hornets led 8-5 when they would blow the set wide open with nine straight points behind the serving of Harper Klein to take a commanding 17-5 lead and never looked back.

Saline closed out the match with a block and a kill by freshman Charlotte Keyes to take the final set 25-11 and sent the Hornets bench to the court to celebrate.

The Hornets reached the finals with a dominating three set win over Monroe 25-19, 25-12, 26-24 in the district semis earlier in the week.

Saline advances to the D1 regional at Mason Tuesday night when they take on the host Bulldogs in the semifinals at 6:30. The reginal final will be played Thursday night at 6:00 in Mason.