Lady Ramblers finish as area’s No. 2 seed
Dan Priest Gymnasium was the site of a Class AAAA top 10 battle last Monday night as the third-ranked Northwest Whitfield Lady Bruins came to south Walker County to take on sixth-ranked LaFayette.
And it was the visitors that got it done.
The Lady Bruins needed just two sets to pick up the win, although the Lady Ramblers nearly sent the match to a tiebreaking third set. Northwest won the opener, 25-14, but had to hold on for a 27-25 victory in the second set.
Sarah Ray paced LaFayette with eight kills and a pair of blocks. Jillian Morgan had five blocks and four digs, but was held to just three kills. Emily Redden had a solid allaround match with nine assists, seven digs, two kills and a block. Katie Dixon and Bailey Tarvin had 11 digs each, wile Tarvin also picked up two aces.
Other contributors for LaFayette included Elania Kirkendoll (2 blocks), Blakley Lankford (8 digs), Michaela Hobbs (7 digs) and Darsey Shields (1 dig, 1 kill).
LaFayette sweeps on Senior Night
The Lady Ramblers closed out a 4-2 regular season mark in Area 6-AAAA play with a pair of home wins on Senior Night last Tuesday night in south Walker County.
LaFayette (34-10) scored a 25-22, 25-11 victory over Gilmer before dispatching Southeast Whitfield, 2519 and 25-18.
Seniors Dixon and Redden showed out for the Orange-and-Black. Dixon had 17 kills and 19 digs, while Redden finished with 42 assists, six digs and three aces.
“Katie is one of the most skilled players in the area,” head coach Chris Logan said. “She does all of the little things right and is producing solid numbers in every area. Emily has been a huge leader and has set the tone for many big games. I’m glad we’ve got some games left with them. We’re definitely going to miss them next year.”
Gracie Stier returned to the lineup after recovering from a sprained ankle and had seven digs and three kills, while Tarvin collected 18 digs and five aces. Jillian Morgan had 17 kills, seven aces and six digs, while Lankford collected a dozen digs.
Other standouts included Kirkendoll (2 kills, 1 block), Shields (3 digs, 3 kills), Ray (5 kills, 5 blocks) and Hobbs (3 digs, 1 ace).
LaFayette’s JV team
placed second in a tournament at Coahulla Creek on Saturday.
The varsity club was scheduled to join Christian Heritage on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. tri-match at Ringgold in the regular season finale. Results were not available as of press time.
The Area 6-AAAA tournament will get underway on Thursday (Oct. 5) with first-round games being played on the home court of the higher-seeded teams.
The first-round matchups will include No. 7 Gilmer at No. 2 LaFayette (6 p.m.), No. 6 Southeast Whitfield at No. 3 Heritage (5:30 p.m.) and No. 5 Pickens and No. 4 Ridgeland (5:30 p.m.).
Northwest Whitfield,
the regular season champion, will receive a first-round bye.
The remainder of the double-elimination tournament will be played at Ridgeland on Saturday,. Oct. 7, starting at 9 a.m.
The top four teams will advance to the Class AAAA state playoffs, while the top two teams will earn first-round state playoff matches at home. The state playoffs start on Oct. 11.