The Taylorville Tornadoes held on to first place in the Apollo Conference with a hard-fought three-set win over Mt. Zion Tuesday night.

Taylorville took the opener 25–20 behind a balanced attack from Robyn Ward and Alayna Vincent, before the Braves answered in a wild second set. Mt. Zion rallied late to force extra points and edged the Tornadoes 28–26 after a pair of controversial calls at the net.

The decisive third set looked a lot like the second—Taylorville jumped out to a quick lead, Mt. Zion clawed back, but a booming spike from Ward sealed a 25–21 victory and the match two sets to one.

Head Coach Kim Peabody said despite the win, the Tornadoes made things difficult on themselves.

Peabody added that the team needs to stay aggressive when playing with a lead.

With the win, Taylorville improves to 16–2 overall and stays perfect in conference play at 6–0. Mt. Zion drops to 12–8 and 3–2 in the Apollo. The Tornadoes hit the road Thursday night to face Lincoln.