For the seventh time in the past eight years, the Isabella Mustangs won the county volleyball tournament.

The string of dominance continued with a pair of victories over Thorsby in the semifinals and Chilton County in the title game.

The Mustangs swept both matches, and it was the third championship won by the senior class.

“For it to be the last one, it was great,” Isabella senior Alexis Owens said. “It just feels great knowing that you’re going out, as a senior, with a bang.”

Isabella started fast in every set, which allowed the opportunity to play from the lead throughout the majority of the competition.

Entering the tournament, the Mustangs were positioned as the No. 1 seed, and proceeded to live up to that ranking.

According to Isabella head coach Glen Graham, one of the advantages to being the top seed was that the first game was not until around noon, which meant that his players could sleep in and ease into the day.

Despite winning the tournament, Isabella saw some big leads disappear and allowed their opponents to hang around at times. This is something that Graham will focus on with the postseason right around the corner.

“This team is very talented and smart at playing this game,” Graham said. “I’m real proud of them and it’s always great to win your county. There’s always high expectations at Isabella on the volleyball court, but we’ve got to find a way to play every point with a passion.”

Each season, Graham designs Isabella’s schedule with preparation for the playoffs in mind. The county tournament is part of that.

“Playing in very strong tournaments against higher level or ranked teams has given us the opportunity to be prepared for anything that we’re going to see from here on.”