Harmony advances to the regional semifinals. Not pictured is setter Gabby Hector. (Brandon Ogden/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Senior Rendi Seahorn delivered 21 kills, including the match-clincher to lift Harmony to a sweep of Troup (25-22, 25-22, 25-9) in the area round of the Class 3A Division II volleyball playoffs on Thursday at Tyler High School.

“I’m super proud of them,” Harmony head volleyball coach Dena Martin said. “We struggled a little bit sometimes in serve/receive and defense, but we pulled through and we work really hard. I’m just super proud of the way they played tonight.”

Harmony jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in the first set before falling behind 8-7. A 7-1 run put the Lady Eagles ahead 14-9, but the Lady Tigers battled back to tie the score at 16 with a kill by Qhenja Jordan. After Harmony went up 18-16, Troup went on a 5-1 run and then led 22-20 after a kill by Emory Cover. However, the Lady Eagles ended the set on a 5-0 run with Gabby Hector setting up a Isabel Morris kill.

“We kind of have some roller coasters at times, but I knew we wouldn’t give up,” Martin said. “The last match we played, we were down 10-1, and we fought back and won that set. So I had faith in my girls that we would come back in that one.”

With Troup leading 6-5 in the second set, Harmony went on a 10-0 run to go up 15-6. The Lady Tigers responded with a 5-0 run and eventually cut the score to 22-20. Seahorn got a tip kill and block to push the score to 24-20 before Troup scored two straight points as Kylie Switzer’s kill trimmed the score to 24-22. Hector then caught Troup off guard by turning a set into a quick kill to give the Lady Eagles a 2-0 lead in the match.

“We did get down, but we have the fight in us,” Seahorn said. “We’re going to keep pushing as hard as we can. Even if we’re tired, we’re going to push. And in that last set, we were going to put it all on the court and end it there because we were ready to move on to the next round and sweep this team.”

That’s exactly what the Lady Eagles did. Up 5-4, Harmony outscored Troup 20-5 the rest of the third set, and Seahorn finished it off with a kill.

“My setter (Hector), she got hurt at the end, but she’s been my setter since sixth grade, and we’ve been best friends forever,” Seahorn said. “Our connection is really strong. Her putting the sets where they need to be and me doing my job, it just really works for me. She just sets me up perfect every time.”

Hector finished with 20 assists, five kills and nine digs. Seahorn added 16 digs and two aces. Hannah Martin had seven digs and two aces. Maecy Toland, Mally Davidson and Noel Edge all had five digs. Toland also had four blocks. Morris had four kills and eight digs. Trista Tittle had nine digs.

“I’m just super proud of everything they’ve done,” Martin said. “I’ve got seven seniors that have been playing together since they were in the seventh or eighth grade, so that has a huge part in it too. They’re together right now.”

Harmony (32-7) advances to the Class 3A Division II Region II semifinal to face Paradise. Troup ends its season at 21-20.