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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher 

SELMA – The Selma Saints put together an impressive performance on Tuesday, Oct. 7, downing visiting Southside-Selma to celebrate their seniors with a Senior-Night victory.

The Saints controlled much of the match, using a dominant opening set to propel them to a 3-1 (25-9, 18-25, 25-22, 25-22) victory.

Early in the opening set, it looked like we might get a tight battle between the two teams.

The visiting Panthers took an early 3-1 advantage, but Selma quickly erased that, storming in front. The Saints used a 13-2 run to open up a 14-5 win that created more than enough cushion to coast to the opening-set win.

After falling behind 3-1, the Saints gave up just six more points in the set to pull away for a 25-9 victory, giving them a 1-0 advantage in the match.

Southside, however, didn’t go down without a fight.

In the second set, the Panthers were able to create some early separation, breaking a 3-3 tie with a 6-1 run to take a 9-4 advantage.

The Saints battled back to within one at 11-10, but every run from them was handled with a response from the Panthers, who used an 8-0 run to take a 19-10 lead.

 Selma never could get closer than five the rest of the way as Southside pulled off a 25-18 set victory to even the match.

From there, however, the Saints settled into a rhythm.

In the third set, they gained a 12-6 lead at one point and played with a comfortable advantage for a while.

Southside, who trailed 17-10 at one point, did storm back to take a 20-18 lead, but the Saints were determined on senior night and finished the set on a 7-2 run to pick up the 25-22 victory.

The fourth set featured a similar battle, as Selma built a lead and played with it throughout, but the Panthers eventually fought back to within two points at 22-20.

Selma, however, garnered a couple of match points at 24-21 and eventually capitalized to close out the victory with a 25-22 win in the set and 3-1 victory in the match.

Seniors on this year’s team included Trinity Hardy, Laderrica Williams, America Salas, Cassidy Hatcher, Nicole Holloway, Kristie Moore, Alisia Lee, Ayanna James and Makiyah Jones.