HOLLY POND — Day 1 of the Cullman County Volleyball Tournament is officially in the books.

Top-seeded Fairview and No. 3 Good Hope delivered strong performances on Monday afternoon, while Holly Pond and West Point kept its championship dreams alive and well following key victories inside Felton Easterwood Gymnasium as the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively.

The defending champion Lady Aggies survived a hard-fought match against the Lady Warriors (25-17, 25-21) to corral a spot in the winners’ bracket.

Fairview closed out the first set with an 8-2 run and wrapped up the second set with a 5-1 spurt to put itself in position to take home a second straight county crown.

It’s up to the Purple and Gold to close things out.

“I feel like we can do it,” said Abbi Taylor, who claimed six kills and three blocks. “We had a lot of energy out there today. We let West Point get ahead of us both times, but we kept pushing and gave it our all. We need to do the same thing on Tuesday.”

McKinna Yearwood (six kills), Ally Hogeland (five digs), Daisy Manasco (five digs), Micah Means (11 assists) and Alivia Boyll (seven assists) also contributed for the Lady Aggies, who improved to 31-14 overall and 10-1 against county foes.

The Lady Raiders, meanwhile, bested second-seeded Cold Springs (25-22, 25-23) and No. 6 Hanceville (25-11, 25-10) thanks in large part to senior Kate Kent, who racked up 19 kills, four aces and three blocks.

Leyton Seal, Ally Knight, Jesse Kent, Sadie Fendley, Alee Jackson, Chrissi Smith and Skylar Tucker also came up with strong performances.

“We really wanted to come in and set the tone today,” Kent said. “We wanted to win both matches so we could get ready for the big ones tomorrow. We’ve got Fairview next. We lost a three-setter to them early in the season, so I think it would be a good morale boost for us to beat the top-seeded team. Going to the losers’ bracket would dock our momentum.”

The two programs will meet at 4 p.m. Tuesday for a chance to advance to the title tilt.

Holly Pond, which eliminated Cold Springs (16-25, 25-21, 15-11) will kick things off against West Point, which eliminated Vinemont (25-12, 25-19) at 3 p.m. The winner will then duke it out with the loser of Fairview/Good Hope at 5 p.m. for the right to compete for a county championship — though that team will need to win two straight matches starting at 6 p.m.

Anna Kate Voce (20 kills, 20 digs and six aces), Grace Chambers (15 kills and six aces), Savanna Taylor (20 digs) and Emi Harbison (52 assists) all pitched in for the Class 2A, No. 8 Blue and Gold, who beat Vinemont 25-22, 25-22 before falling to Good Hope and Holly Pond en route to elimination.

In other action, West Point bettered Holly Pond 25-14, 24-15), while Vinemont eliminated Hanceville with a 25-22, 22-25, 11-15 triumph. Stats for Hanceville, Holly Pond, Vinemont and West Point were unavailable following Monday’s matches.