Lafayette moves on, Ridgeland heads home

You have to go all the way back to 2010 to find the last time the Lafayette Lady Ramblers advanced to the Sweet 16 of the state volleyball playoffs.

But that drought came to a welcome end on Saturday as No. 7-ranked Lafayette traveled south to Cartersville High School and broke out the brooms against White County, 25-22, 25-18 and 25-23.

Jillian Morgan paced the offense with 12 kills and added four blocks on the defensive end. Gracie Stier had 10 kills and five digs. Imani Cook had seven kills and Colby Charland collected four digs and dished out 25 assists. Bailey Tarvin finished with 16 digs and an ace. Micaela Hobbs had seven digs. Kloe Ludy added five digs and Darsey Shields finished with three.

Elaina Kirkendoll had three blocks and one kill on the day, while Sarah Ray bolstered the defense with two blocks.

The Lady Ramblers (43-7) will head back to Cartersville High School on Wednesday to take on the No. 10-ranked Lady Canes, the champions of Region 5. Cartersville handled Madison County with a 3-0 a sweep on Saturday.

Wednesday’s match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. with the winner moving on to face either Eastside or Richmond Academy in the state quarterfinals.

Ridgeland loses in opening round

The state playoff run for the Ridgeland Lady Panthers was a short one as the Black-and-white faced No. 3-ranked Blessed Trinity in Saturday’s first round and suffered a 3-0 defeat (25-7, 25-15, 25-10) at the hands of the Class 4A powerhouse in a match played at St. Pius X in Atlanta.

Jayda Jenkins had six kills, three digs and a block. Sarah Williams had six digs and a kill. Justice Devlin picked up two digs, an ace and a block, while Emma Carter finished with an ace, two digs and three assists.

Bailey Fowler had four digs, followed by Brylee Durham with three and Sara Taylor with one. Asia Silmon and Isabella Allen had one kill each, while Allen also picked up five assists. Tori Elliott finished with one block and Landree Dunn, Tenley Moore and Sydney Davis all received one serve.

Ridgeland ended its season with a 22-21 overall record.