The junior varsity Marengo academy volleyball team battled hard this weekend to a second place finish in the Alabama Independent School Association&8217;s 1A state championship tournament.

The Longhorns won 3-of-5 of their matches and only lost to the eventual state champions Southern Academy. Assistant volleyball coach Lynette McClure said the group surpassed expectations by the amount of progress this season.

The Longhorns went into the tournament with a 9-3 record during the regular season. Out of the seven teams making the tourney, Marengo Academy was seeded third.

The group opened the tournament against Prattville, where they won by significant margins in the first two of the best of three series that made up a match in the competition. Lowndes Academy followed on the heels of the first victory and Marengo Academy was pushed by their opponents but managed to pull off a 2-1 win.

The third game was a different story for the &8217;Horns. They faced the eventual winners of the 1A Division and were swept in two games, which sent the Longhorns to the loser&8217;s bracket.

Again the group managed to battle through the ranks, beating Jackson Academy in a competitive 2-1 match to head to the championship bout with Southern Academy. The group attempted an upset and came within two points of the state title before losing the final match two games to one.

The group finished the day with the second place trophy and two players, Destiny Huckabee and Jessica Brock, making the All-Tournament Team.