WEST POINT —  Kristen Jochum loved the comeback.

The finish? Not so much.

After watching her Cullman High volleyball team fall behind 2-0 to Class 5A, Area 14 rival West Point, Jochum’s Bearcats rallied back to tie the match at two apiece before falling 17-15 in the fifth and decisive game.

West Point won the match 25-21, 25-23, -17- 25, 21-25, 17-15.

“It was good that we were able to rally back,” Jochum said. “But I wish we could’ve closed the deal.”

Cullman (10-6, 1-2 in Area 14)  may not have “closed the deal,” but West Point did.

After the Bearcats took a 15-14 lead in the fifth and final game, West Point (7-5, 1-4) scored three consecutive points to secure its first Area 14 win of the season.

“That was definitely a big win,” said Warriors coach Regina Jones. “It was our first area win and hopefully we can build on it for the end of the season. We play Hartselle here Thursday and the momentum would be good to keep up.”

Jochum said it is too early to tell if the second loss will hurt the Bearcats’ chances of winning the regular season area race, as they still have to play Hartselle twice and have a rematch with Brewer, which defeated Cullman earlier in the season.

Tuesday’s match was extremely competitive throughout.

The first and second games were classic seesaw affairs, with neither team ever having more than a three-point advantage.

That trend continued in the third game, but the Bearcats were able to maintain a lead throughout after opening with an 8-5 run.

After that, it seemed the Bearcats might use the momentum to win the entire match.

The fourth game was another nip-and-tuck affair until Maggie Warren served three aces to take it from an 18-18 tie to a 23-18 Cullman lead.

Then came the fifth game.

“We had already played them once and I knew what kind of hitters they had,” Jones said. “I never expected them to quit but I’m proud that our girls didn’t quit either.”

Katlin Haynes led the Warriors with 36 assists, eight digs, and one ace, while Rachel Persall had 12 kills and four aces. Emily Beck contributed 12 digs for the Warriors while Patricia McClure had six digs, four kills and two aces.

For Cullman, Laura Evans had 34 digs. Warren added 19 kills and three aces while Kacy Forrest had 13 kills.

Stan Veitch can be reached by phone at 734-2131, ext. 258 or by e-mail at stanv@cullmantimes.com.