Lafayette outlasts Ridgeland as old rivals collide on the court

ROSSVILLE — The LaFayette Lady Ramblers and Ridgeland Lady Panthers have had their share of fierce battles on the volleyball court over the course of their long rivalry and their latest skirmish was no different. The Walker County and Area 7-AAAA combatants went back-andback forth for nearly two hours in Rossville last Tuesday night before the visiting Lady Ramblers were finally able to pull out a three-set win. A 7-2 run at the midway point gave LaFayette the lead for good in the first set as they went on to a 25-18 win, but Ridgeland would answer as four straight points late in the set by Myka McGee gave the Lady Panthers a 25-18 to tie the match. The final set was a back-and-forth affair, but tied at 21-all, Christina Hannah and Michaela Suttles hammered home winners for LaFayette, and Ridgeland had a pair of unforced errors to hand the Lady Ramblers a match-clinching 25-22 win. Suttles had 11 kills and 12 digs for LaFayette. Breianna Maggard added 20 digs, three kills and a pair of blocks. Christina Hannah had three kills, Abbey Hannah added 11 digs, and Brooke Sharp finished with 12 aces. Ridgeland got six kills from Layna Jenkins and three each from Nicole Lonsford and Katelyn Baker, while Desiree Powers finished with six digs. Both teams also fell to state-ranked Heritage earlier in the evening. The Lady Panthers dropped a 25-22, 25-14 decision to fall to 2-4 on the season. McGee, Lonsford, Jenkins, and Morgan Woody had three kills apiece, and Powers paced the defense with eight digs. The Lady Ramblers extended their match with the Lady Generals to three sets, but eventually lost a 26-24, 17-25, 25-18 decision. Suttles had eight kills and 15 digs. Maggard had a big all-around match with seven kills, 17 digs, three aces, and three blocks. Christina Hannah added three kills, three blocks, and 13 digs. Abbey Hannah had eight digs and four aces. Sharp finished with nine digs, and Mariah Neal had 14 digs for LaFayette. None of the matches counted in the 7-AAAA standings. digs and three The Lady Ramblers dropped a match to county rival Gordon Lee, 25-20, 25-14, at home on Thursday, but rebounded to knock off Chattooga, 25-15, 25-20, improving their record to 5-6 as the week began. Suttles had 11 kills, 11 digs, and four aces on the night. Abbey Hannah finished with four aces, eight assists, and 11 digs, while Christina Hannah added 10 digs, four kills, two blocks, and one ace for the Lady Ramblers (5-6). The Lady Panthers also worked their way to a split on Thursday at LFO, losing to Calhoun, 25-23, 20-25, 21-25, but beating the host Lady Warriors, 25-15, 25-27, 25-23. Jenkins had 13 kills on the night, while Woody added 12. Lonsford had four kills against LFO and Powers led the defense with 13 total digs. Ridgeland finished runner-up in the Silver division of the Hixson Invitational on Saturday. The Lady Panthers beat Grace Academy (25-23, 25-23) and Lookout Valley (25-23, 25-23), but lost to Silverdale Baptist (1925, 13-25), Hixson (20-25, 20-25), and Signal Mountain (16-25, 9-25) and are now 5-7 on the season. Ridgeland will host Gordon Lee and Coahulla Creek Thursday starting at 5 p.m. while LaFayette won’t take the court again until a Sept. 4 tri-match with Darlington at Gordon Lee.