Volleyball

on Thursday, 25-20 and 26-24, as they advanced to the winners’ bracket semis.

Ridgeland took care of eighth-seeded Pickens, 25-16 and 25-16, but LaFayette lost a 25-13, 25-23 decision to secondseeded Southeast Whitfield, setting up the allWalker County, win-orgo-home showdown with the state berth hanging in the balance.

The Lady Panthers drew first blood with a 25-17 win in the opening set, but the Lady Ramblers answered with a 25-17 win of their own to send the match to a third and final set.

LaFayette held a 1512 lead in the final set, when Ridgeland simply stole the momentum. The Lady Panthers claimed 12 of the next 14 points to earn match point at 24-17. LaFayette would win two more points but no more as Ridgeland moved on with a 25-19 victory.

“We still did well,” said a tearful LaFayette head coach Whitney Stinson, whose team ended the year with a 23-17 record. “We still finished third in the regular season, and it’s hard when all comes down to a single day because anything can happen.

“I’m proud of our team and our eight seniors, who we will miss dearly. They accomplished so much this season, but I’m also proud of Ridgeland too. We respect their program and I coached a few of those girls while I was at Rossville (Middle School). I hope they keep it going.”

Ridgeland drew surprising Gilmer in the next match, and relegated the seventh-seeded Lady Bobcats to a No. 4 seed at state with a 25-20, 23-25, 25-17 victory.

That set up a match with state-ranked Southeast, a team that the Lady Panthers beat in their previous two meetings this season.

Ridgeland led 21-16 in the first set and had three set points in the match, but could not put the Lady Raiders away as Southeast rallied for a thrilling 30-28 victory.

Southeast jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the second set, looking to put away the Lady Panthers quickly, but the Blackand-White was having none of it as they chipped away at the deficit. They would come all the way back to take a 23-22 lead, but once again, Southeast battled back to score a 26-24 win.

“We had moments of inconsistency throughout the day, and I think we let up just a few times in that last match,” Ridgeland head coach Kari Cooper explained. “But that was probably due to being tired, and we just didn’t have that extra energy to carry us through. Still, we can leave this gym with our heads held high because we played really good volleyball today.

“I’m proud of them. We didn’t just qualify for state, we won that next match afterward and nearly got into the region finals. We just need to work on our consistency and see what can do next week.”

Ridgeland (23-18) will play at Sandy Creek in the opening round of the Class AAAA playoffs on Oct. 16, according to the brackets posted on the GHSA website.