The Heritage Patriots’ dream of another run in the boys’ volleyball sectional came to an end after an excellent performance by South Side’s Saevin Ehlers, with the Archers winning three sets to one.
Heritage jumped out to the early lead, winning the opening set 25-19. Alex Nagel played well for the Patriots, picking up several key kills in the early going.
The second set, however, went South Side’s way, with Ehlers providing the spark.
Myles Harris and Gery Gerber kept the Patriots competitive, but they simply didn’t have the firepower to keep pace with South after the opening set.
Harris ended the night with a team-high 17 kills, while Gerber finished his final match with 12.
Heritage, facing elimination in the fourth set, jumped out to an early lead and maintained that lead midway through the set at 11-10, but the Archers won four points in a row. Coach Tigulis attempted to stop the run with a time out, which worked and allowed the Patriots to come back and lead 15-14.
The Archers answered right back, though, with four points in a row again.
A key point that could have gone the other way on a controversial call made the score 21-18 instead of 20-19, and the Archers went on to win from there.
Nolan Bowers had nine kills in the loss, while seniors Alden Bowers and Graham Simmons had six and seven, respectively.
Luke Cain and Jaxon Kerr had two aces for the Patriots.
Chase Buuck led the team with 19 digs.
The Patriots final record for 2026 was 9-10.
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