DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
Note: No scores, stats, or other information were received by WZBD from Adams Central or South Adams from Saturday’s ACAC tourney.
HOAGLAND – A long day of volleyball, spread across two gyms with talk of tiebreakers and plenty of mathematical equations., came to a conclusion Saturday with a predictable outcome. The Heritage Patriots are the best volleyball team in the ACAC this season.
Coach Shelly Schwartz’s team went unbeaten Saturday, defeating Woodlan for the second time in a week in the finals and claiming the trophy on their home court.
The Patriots beat the Warriors 25-18, 25-17 in the championship match to end a long day of volleyball.
“They played with a lot of heart,” noted coach Schwartz, “and they were locked in all day. Maya Ehrman did a great job of leading as a great all-around example. She had a big day of setting and hitting.”
Ehrman had seven kills in the final.
Prior to the final, Adams Central and South Adams got a preview of Thursday’s showdown in the Stardome. The Starfires won the best-of-three precursor (25-23, 25-21) and they’ll hope to complete the sweep on WZBD Thursday night in the best-of-five format.
In the match for fifth place, Southern Wells beat Jay County 25-22, 25-20.
Bluffton finished in seventh place in the final year for the event being a seven-team field. The Concordia Cadets will alter the conference significantly next season with their strong volleyball program.
Schwartz told WZBD.com that the day was a total team effort.
“Grace Scheumann was very impressive with her defense today and she came up with some great digs. Audra Bickel had several key blocks and served a very aggressive ball that kept Woodlan out of system.”
Scheumann had seven digs and Bickel had a pair of kills in the final.
“The freshman trio of Elena Lybarger, Mallory Ehrman and Kinley Galentine kept swinging all day to give Woodlan fits on defense.”
The three freshmen combined for 21 kills in the two sets in the championship.
“Kierstyn Hess was strong on defense and serve receive.”
Hess, who had five digs, was so good on the receive that Schwartz noted the Warriors simply stopped serving it to her.
The results did nothing but strengthen the computer rankings for the Patriots, who remain the highest-ranked team in the northern half of the state in 3A. They are also the highest-ranked public school program, sitting behind only Cathedral and Providence. Coach Schwartz’s team is ranked #14 overall.
“We’ve got a whole team of well-rounded players,” Schwartz said in her final remarks. “They can do it all and they keep swinging, even if it is out of system. I credit our win to players that refuse to quit and don’t get rattled when they fall behind. They are working together and anyone can step up on any given night.”
Heritage will be a heavy favorite to claim the regular season ACAC title and the rest of the six regular season matchups. That would leave the team with a 28-2 mark heading into the 3A Bellmont sectional in three weeks.
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