Alexis Lanz and the Bethlehem volleyball locked up the top seed for the 19th District Tournament with an epic five-set victory over rival Bardstown Thursday night.

Lanz topped 1,000 kills for her career as the homestanding Banshees held off the Tigers 25-18, 19-25, 25-13, 26-24, 19-17 at Crawford Hart Gymnasium.

Bethlehem improved to 18-13 overall and 7-1 in the district, earning the No. 1 seed for the upcoming district tournament the team will host in two weeks.

Bardstown dropped to 12-14 overall and 5-3 in the district.

The Banshees and Tigers were evenly matched throughout the night, with neither team able to get much breathing room – except for the third set, when Bethlehem was in control from that game’s opening tip.

The fourth and fifth sets were especially close, with the Banshees rallying from a 17-11 deficit in the fourth to nearly pull off the comeback before the Tigers finally won the set. The fifth set was even more back and forth, with both sides fighting tooth and nail for each point along the way.

Bethlehem finally got the upper hand eventually, using a kill from Lanz to set up match point.

Complete statistics weren’t available.

The Banshees host 5th Region rival Marion County at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to end the regular season. The Tigers play at region rival Green County at 7 p.m. Monday.

Frankfort 2, Nelson County 1 (25-21, 19-25, 25-22)

The visiting Cardinals fell to 5-18 on the year with Wednesday’s loss to the Panthers in the capitol city. No statistics were available.

Nelson County hosts region rival Taylor County at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Bethlehem 3, Nelson County 0 (set scores not available)

Visiting Bethlehem swept Nelson County Tuesday night, sending the Cardinals to their 17th loss of the season.

Brooklyn Yates led the Banshees with 12 kills, while Lanz added nine. Sloane Smith and Blair O’Bryan each had six kills.

Matti Deopere handed out 21 assists, and O’Bryan and Lanz combined for nine aces. Avery Jennings chipped in with 14 digs, and Yates and Mackenzie Sinclair each had six.

No statistics were available for Nelson County.

Adair County 3, Bardstown 0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-22)

Addison Devers and J’Zarah Hazlewood each had eight kills, but it wasn’t enough as the host Tigers fell to Adair County Tuesday night.

Destiny Ingram dished out 24 assists, while Devers also came up with 11 digs and Molly Kisegy had 10.