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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher

PLANTERSVILLE – It didn’t come easy, but the Keith Bears went on the road and picked up a thrilling five-set win over county foe Dallas County on Thursday, Sept. 25.

The Bears took a 2-0 lead in the match before the Hornets stormed back with two consecutive set wins to force a decisive fifth set won by Keith to complete a 3-2 (26-24, 25-15, 18-25, 17-25, 15-11) victory.

In a back-and-forth opening set, Keith jumped out to an early lead through the first two points, but it was Dallas County that was able to create some space with a 9-5 advantage to force a timeout from the Bears.

The Hornets built a 12-7 lead at one point, but Keith battled back to eventually even the opening-set score at 16-16.

From there a thrilling fight continued through the end of the set, setting the stage for an exciting night.

Both teams traded points, battling all the way to a 24-24 tie. A service error from Dallas County gave Keith set point, which the Bears capitalized on during the ensuing serve to take the opening set 26-24 and a 1-0 lead in the match.

The second set was controlled throughout by the Bears, who stormed out to an 18-11 lead and used that cushion to coast to a 10-point 25-15 victory for a 2-0 advantage.

With the Hornets now needing three sets in a row to claim the match, they dug deep in the third set to keep their hopes alive. While it was a tight battle throughout, Dallas County eventually created some separation, building a five-point lead at 18-13.

Keith battled back to within three on a couple of occasions, as close as 21-18, but the Hornets responded from there with a 4-0 run to close the set and force a fourth set.

Still trailing 2-1 in the match, Dallas County fell into a quick 5-1 hole in the fourth set, but with the match still on the line, the Hornets continued to fight throughout.

They eventually put together a strong run, overcoming an early 9-4 lead to take an 11-9 advantage.

The rest of the set became a set of runs with the Hornets capitalizing on a big run to take a 20-15 lead. From there, they gave up just two more points to pick up a 25-17 set victory and even the match at 2-2.

In the decisive fifth set, Keith was able to play with an early lead, but yet again, Dallas County stormed back, eventually taking a 10-9 advantage.

With the two teams tied at 11 coming out of a timeout, a switch seemed to flip for the Bears.

Keith came out of the timeout and won the next three points in a row to force match point and a Hornets’ timeout. With the momentum now squarely in their favor, the Bears came right back out and put the match away with one last point to finish off the five-set win.