It was billed as a battle for the ACAC crown amongst two teams both ranked in the top five of their respective classes when Heritage traveled to the StarDome Thursday night.
It ended as a one-sided affair that was all Heritage, with the Patriots (now up to #3 in the state in 3A) winning 25-13, 25-20, 25-16.
“We were extremely well-balanced tonight,” said head coach Shelly Schwartz as she thought about how well her team played on the road. “The defense was scrappy and they were there to pick up every ball.”
The defense was truly a team effort, with Kierstyn Hess and Grace Scheumann leading the way with 13 digs apiece and Mallory Ehrman just behind them with twelve.
The Patriots also had a very successful night with the serve. Mallory Ehrman had five aces and Kinley Galentine had four.
“They were just extremely focused and locked in tonight,” said Schwartz.
The Patriots had three aces in the first set and had an early lead that they never relenquished.
A couple of early service errors kept the Starfires in the second set early, but the Stars never gained the lead and Heritage won five points in a row to build a 15-8 lead before taking the second.
The third set saw the two teams tied at 9-9, but Heritage pulled away and they went the entire match without trailing for a single point.
Mallory Ehrman led the team with 14 kills and sister Maya had ten.
Coach Schwartz also credited the team’s play at the net as a major factor in never allowing the home team to get in the game.
“Our middle blockers were shutting down their hitters with some exceptional blocks.”
The Patriots are now 16-2 and riding a win streak of eleven consecutive wins. They’ll continue in the ACAC with a rivalry match at Woodlan Tuesday.
For South Adams, they’ll play Eastern Saturday and Jay County Tuesday. A rematch with the Patriots will come next Saturday in the ACAC tourney at Heritage.
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