SPANISH FORT, Alabama—The 5A Lady Toros improved to 11-3 overall Tuesday with a five-set volleyball win over 6A Mary G. Montgomery 25-16, 21-25, 25-14, 22-25, 15-11 at Spanish Fort High.

No. 10-ranked SFHS had also improved to 1-0 in their 5A Area 2 race with a win over B.C. Rain last week and will host their eighth Battle of the Fort tournament Friday and Saturday.

Lady Toros head coach Barclay Kercher was happy to get their third win over the Lady Vikings this year and prepare for the rest of the season.

"It was a good game. Not a pretty game," she said. "We off the past weekend and I think we got a little comfortabale after that big lead in the first game, but then we let up. and as a coach you don't want that. You want them to finish out strong. But also to MGM's credit, we have beaten them twice before so I think they came out and made some great adjustments that forced some (bundling) errors on our part and by that time (MGM) stole the momentum. But it was a good way to help get ready for Gulf Shores Thursday. That is a big area game for us."

Spanish Fort was led by Ari Kaminski who had 14 kills, Bailey Stein's nine kills and two blocks, setter Amber Treace who added 10 kills to her 36 assists and seven aces as well as libero Shannon Paaymans' six aces and 20 digs. Front row players Mia Barraza, Gabby Horst, Rebecca Morehouse and Hayden Greene contributed big hits and blocks at the net while Sarah Frances and Haley Ashton made some big saves and passes with Paaymans in the backcourt.

The Toros stampeded out of the gates to a 6-0 lead in the first game and built it to 18-10 midway before finishing with the 25-16 margin of nine. But the Vikings took the lead early in game two, then held off a pair of SF rallies for the 25-21 win. In game three, SF put on a series of scoring runs with powerful serving by Treace, Paaymans, Bazzara, Kaminski and Frances who served for six-straight points and an 11-6 breakaway lead. The rest of the way was filled with alternating leads of one or two and tie scores. In game IV the score was tied 10 times and the lead changed hands 12 times before MGM finished out a come-from-behind three-point flurry at the end. Game V had MGM take a 3-0 lead, SF then followed a Kaminski kill with Paaymans serving to a 5-3 home advantage. The two teams would trade a single-point advantage six more times before the Toros broke an 11-all tie and rode out Treace's serve for game and match point.

Kercher said the Toros' tournament should feature some exciting matches from pool play Friday afternoon until the finals.

"We're also looking forward to hosting our battle at Spanish Fort tournament starting Friday," she said. "We'll have 16 teams all together with matches going on here and at the (Spanish Fort) middle school. We'll have some good teams and expect to see some good volleyball.

"Murphy and Robertsdale were in the finals last year but Spanish Fort strives to be in the finals this season behind the leadership of our four seniors, Shannon Paaymans, Ari Kaminski, Amber Treace and Bailey Stein."