Gritty Lady Panthers back over .500

After a 1-5 start to their season, the Ridgeland Lady Panthers have fought their way back to climb back above .500 for the first time all season.

Ridgeland, who earned a Silver Division first place trophy at the recent Volley at the Creek Tournament in Varnell, made it eight wins in their last 11 matches on Thursday with a sweep of Dalton and LFO in Fort Oglethorpe.

Both of the Lady Panthers’ matches ended up going to thirdset tiebreakers.

They opened with a 25-20, 20-25, 15-7 win over the Lady Catamounts as Landree Dunn and Sarah Williams both had five kills. Williams also added three aces, while Jayda Jenkins threw down four kills and Sydney Davis added two.

Rachel Atchley racked up 13 assists in the win to go with five digs, three kills and an ace. Abbi Witherow served up three aces and added a kill.

The night’s final match would be an exciting one as the two oldest rivals in northwest Georgia high school volleyball clashed for the third time this season.

LFO (8-22) would take a 15-10 lead in the opening set, only to see Ridgeland rally to tie the score at 16, 17 and 19 apiece. But a couple of big blocks down the stretch by LFO middle hitter Symerel Bennett would help give the Lady Warriors the 25-22 victory.

Undaunted, the Lady Panthers (14-12) took control from the outset of the second set and rolled to a 25-11 win, setting up the third and final set.

With the scoreboard starting out at 1010, the set would go back and forth before Tenley Moore served five straight points, including an ace, to give Ridgeland a 23-18 lead.

A hitting error and a Gracen Hobbs kill would pull LFO to within three at 23-20, but a service error gave Ridgeland match point and Witherow would deliver an unreturnable serve to finally clinch the 25-20 victory.

Jenkins led the way with nine kills, seven aces and 10 digs. Atchley chipped in with 16 assists and four digs. Dunn had three kills, while Williams added three aces. Witherow had 21 digs to go with two aces.

Bennett had seven kills and four blocks for the Lady Warriors. Macey Gregg had five kills. Hobbs finished with four and Miyah Foster dished out five assists.

The night’s other match saw Dalton edge by LFO, 27-25 and 26-24.

Bennett had six kills and a block in the loss. Gregg had five kills, two blocks and two assists, while Hobbs picked up two kills.

Other contributors included Aleysa McBurnett (4 kills, 1 block), Madi Graham (2 aces), Jerriale Jackson (1 kill) and Foster (2 kills, 2 assists, 1 ace).