Lafayette spikes Sonoraville in 6-AAA final
It was a slow and steady climb for the Lafayette Lady Ramblers before they finally broke through and won a region championship in 2019.
But after finally reaching the top of the mountain, the Orange-and-black decided they really liked the view and decided to extend their stay.
Lafayette captured a third consecutive region title on Saturday and their second in a row as a member of 6-AAA as the top-seeded Lady Ramblers held off fourth-seeded Ringgold before sweeping secondseeded Sonoraville to claim the gold trophy on their own
home floor.
With the region tournament victory also comes a No. 1 seed
for the Class AAA state playoffs. Lafayette (39-6) will open the tournament at home against
Region 8 No. 4 seed Stephens County (6-17). The match was slated to 5 p.m. on Tuesday of this week.
Lafayette opened the 6-AAA tournament this past Thursday night, taking down eighthseeded LFO, 25-11, 25-11.
Two days later, the Lady Ramblers faced Ringgold in a winners’ bracket semifinal match and the Lady Tigers pushed Lafayette for two sets, but the home team eventually claimed a 26-24, 25-23 victory to punch a ticket to the championship final.
However, there would be little in the way of drama once the final match began.
The Lady Ramblers dominated, 25-12, in the opening set of the best-of-five match and took an 11-3 lead in the second set. The Lady Phoenix used a 5-1 run to trim the deficit down to four points, but they never got closer as Lafayette quickly regained control and scored a 25-13 victory.
The third and what turned out to be the final set was a close one until the midpoint with neither team leading by more than two points.
However, up 13-12, Lafayette found a gear that Sonoraville simply couldn’t match. They outscored the Lady Phoenix down the stretch, 12-4, to cement the region title with a 25-16 third-set victory.
Colby Charland collected 55 assists to go with 13 digs, 10 kills, six blocks and three aces
LADY RAMBLERS,
during the tournament. Jaden Tucker collected 16 kills and Markella Johnson also added 16 kills to go with six digs, four aces and a block. Alex Wysong had an impressive tournament with 10 kills, nine digs, four blocks and three aces, while Michaela Baker had 14 kills, three blocks, two digs and an ace.
Daisy Felipe was all over the court, recording 24 digs, six aces and three kills. Kamryn Johnston provided a defensive spark with 18 digs, adding four aces and a kill, and Bella Brown had 10 digs with Erin Lemons adding four digs. Shelly Warren recorded a kill and Kaitlyn Helton rounded out the stats with one dig.
The Lady Ramblers closed out the regular season last Tuesday with home wins over Pepperell (25-8, 25-14) and Ridgeland (25-14, 25-17).
Johnson ended the night with 13 kills, two aces, a block and a dig. Felipe had 13 digs, five assists, six aces and two kills. Charland collected 11 assists, six kills, two digs and a block, while Baker finished
with eight kills, three blocks, two digs and two aces.
Wysong had 10 aces to go with seven digs, three kills and one block. Johnston added nine digs and three aces. Lemons picked up 18 assists, three digs and two aces. Tucker had five kills and a block. Brown had one digs, while Shelly Warren (two kills) and Caitlyn Lambitz (one kill) rounded out the stats.