Middle School Volleyball: Saddle Ridge scores win over Heritage as NGAC Tournament approaches
The 2018 NGAC Volleyball Tournament will get going on Oct. 1 at Heritage and none of the teams in the field will arrive with a perfect record.
The last of the unbeatens fell this past Thursday as Heritage was narrowly edged out by a fired-up Saddle Ridge squad, 25-23, 25-23, to give the Lady Mustangs a split with the Lady Generals in the season series.
Saddle Ridge (10-2 entering the week) trailed 11-4 in the opening set before coming back to win and rode the momentum to the sweep.
Markella Johnson had a team-high nine kills and picked up an ace. Natalee Mcclain collected four kills and 11 digs. Jaden Tucker had three kills and 10 digs. Kamryn Johnston recorded a dozen digs and Erin Lemons had eight digs and nine assists.
Caitlyn Lambitz recorded seven digs, three aces and a kill. Auriyan Mcclure had four digs, while Maria Bule’ added five assists, two digs and an ace.
Individual statistics for Heritage (10-1) were not provided as of press time.
Heritage had one final regular season match scheduled for this week (at Chattanooga Valley on Tuesday), while Saddle Ridge still has a road trip at Dade (Tuesday), followed by a home match with rival Lafayette on Thursday.
Waiting in the wings in third place in the league standings is Ringgold, who went on the road and defeated county rival Lakeview in two sets, 25-15 and 25-17, this past Tuesday afternoon.
Maclaine Donavan had six aces for Ringgold. Tahj Griggs added two aces and a block. Genna Pease collected an ace and had two hits, while Katlyn Nichols and Alexis Bracket both picked up an ace.
Madison Gilliland had four aces and five digs for the Lady Warriors, while June Lindroth recorded six digs.
The Lady Tigers (8-3) were slated to host Lafayette in their regular season finale on Tuesday.
Speaking of the Lady Ramblers, they picked up two more victories this past week against Walker County foes Rossville and Chattanooga Valley.
Lafayette got a stern test from visiting Rossville on Tuesday, but was finally able to claim a 14-25, 25-23, 25-15 victory over the gritty Lady Bulldogs.
Shelby Madden had nine aces and two hits in the win. Bella Brown finished with five kills, six hits, a block. Michaela Baker had four kills, three hits and an ace, while Sierra Cunningham had five kills, four hits, three tips and one ace.
Jenna Torbett finished with six assists, followed by Gracie Headrick with five and Kenedy Ludy with two. Also getting on the stat sheet was Kaylee Meeks (two digs) and Kylia Vanpelt (one tip).
Breeanna Ledford had six kills and seven digs for the Lady Bulldogs in the loss. Elizabeth Bagley collected five kills, three aces and two digs. Meagan Cordova added three aces and a kill, while Brylee Benson (three digs, one kill), Bryanna Galindo (four digs, two aces), Ivey Stargel (six digs, one ace) and Katelyn Smith (one kill, one dig) also contributed for the Blue-and-white.
Against the Lady Eagles, the Lady Ramblers claimed a 25-13, 25-19 victory as Torbett had four assists and an ace. Cunningham had seven assists and two kills. Brown picked up three aces and three kills, while Baker had three aces and two assists.
Also contributing was Madden (two kills, two aces), Erin Ball (one ace), Ludy (two assists) and Headrick (one assist).
Individual statistics for the Lady Eagles were not provided as of press time.
Chattanooga Valley’s varsity team picked up a big win over Gordon Lee last Tuesday, 16-25, 25-23 and 25-20. Lady Eagles’ head coach Jennifer Hobbs praised the play of setter Madison Lennon and libero Koda O’dell, along with Alyssa Wooten, Cate Voyles, Paris Shelton, Macey Smith and Adriana Marks. O’dell finished with seven aces.
Individual statistics for Gordon Lee were not provided as of press time.
And Lakeview continued its solid season with a 25-20, 25-16 win over Rossville on Thursday.
Individual statistics for the Lady Warriors (6-7) were not provided as of press time.
Ledford had a team-best nine digs for Rossville (3-8) to go with a kill and an ace. Bagley finished with three kills, three digs and an ace. Galindo recorded five digs and two kills, while Cordova had two aces and two digs. Also getting on the stat sheet was Benson (one ace, one dig) and Stargel (three digs).
More details on these matches can be found on our website (northwestgeorgianews.com).