Heritage knocked out of 6-AAAA tournament

Area 6-AAAA has seen its share of upsets over the years when it comes to the area’s postseason volleyball tournament.

And unfortunately for Heritage, Saturday would be no exception.

Despite coming in as the area’s No. 2 overall seed, the Lady Generals saw their season come to a sudden and surprising end after back- to- back losses to Lafayette and Ridgeland at Southeast Whitfield High School.

Heritage, who beat No. 7 seed Gilmer on Thursday, opened Saturday with a narrow threeset loss to No. 3 seed Lafayette, who like the Lady Generals also came into the contest ranked among the top 10 teams in the state in the classification. Heritage would win the first set, 25- 22, but the Lady Ramblers would bounce back with a 25-15 win in the second set before a nail- biting 28-26 victory in the deci- sive third set.

That loss would send the Navy- and- Red into the elimination bracket where they would draw No. 5 seed Ridgeland. The upset-minded Lady Panthers began the match with a surprising 25- 15 victory in the first set, only to see Heritage fight back with a 25-12 victory in the second set. But it would be Ridgeland who earned the victory with a 25-22 win in the third set.

Morgan Trotter, a second- team All- Area selection, had 14 total kills on the afternoon. Kali Brown, another second-team pick, had five kills, seven digs and three aces against Ridgeland, while Anna Wilks, Heritage’s third second-team pick, had 10 digs against the Lady Panthers. Kayla Vernon had five kills and two blocks in the loss to Lafayette, while Lauren Francis dished out 26 assists against the Lady Ramblers.

Heritage ended the season with an 29-10 overall record.