CALEDONIA — On paper, Thursday’s public-private school matchup between Caledonia High School and Heritage Academy appeared to be a mismatch.
The Lady Confederates (16-7, 6-0 in division play) looked to use their regular-season home finale as a tuneup in preparation for the first round of the playoffs Tuesday against Aberdeen.
But the Lady Patriots (2-3), who entered the match in their first year as a program, had other ideas and gave Caledonia all it could handle before losing 3-0. Set scores were 25-16, 25-16, 30-28.
After matching Caledonia almost point-for-point before faltering down the stretch in the first two sets, Heritage Academy extended third set before bowing out.
Down 11-4 in the third set, Heritage Academy pulled to within 12-11 before Caledonia used a 7-2 scoring spree to extend its lead to 19-13 in what looked to be a repeat of the first two sets.
The Lady Patriots, however, battled back to take a 23-22 lead, only to have a net serve knot things up at 23. Caledonia then led 24-23, 25-24, and 26-25, but Heritage Academy refused to allow the game-winning point, and led 28-27 in its bid to send the match into a fourth set.
A Heritage Academy serving error gave Caledonia new life and a 28-28 tie. A Stevi Carter kill and an ace by Elisha Collins provided the winning margin.
In the first set, Caledonia twice led by five points. The second of which was at 14-9. But Heritage Academy outscored the home team 7-3 to make it a 17-16 count before the Lady Confederates scored the final eight points behind server Morgan Smith.
The second set was a bit closer, as Caledonia’s biggest lead was three, 12-9. True to form, Heritage Academy built a one-point cushion (16-15), but in a virtual carbon copy of the first set, the Lady Confederates and server Cara Hopper went on a 10-0 tear to claim the set by an identical 25-16 score.
“I’m going to have heartburn from this for a week,” Caledonia coach Samantha Brooks said. “This was a good lesson for us because I think we came into this a little overconfident. It goes to show that you can’t overlook anyone.”
Although pleased with the win, Brooks said her team didn’t play its best volleyball.
“We made a lot of mistakes and beat ourselves out of a lot of points,” she said.
Despite the loss and a season record of 2-4, Heritage Academy coach Liz Byrne heaped words of praise on her first Lady Patriots volleyball team.
“I am so proud of my girls,” Byrne said, “and they should be incredibly proud, too. Win or lose, this has been an historic season at Heritage, and we’re going forward and build on this year. These girls have laid the foundation for the future, and all they need to be successful now is some experience.”
Hopper led the Lady Confederates with nine aces, followed by Smith and Collins with five, Ashley Langford with four and Sarah Freeman with two.
Stevi Carter led Caledonia with five kills, while Freeman had four and Collins had three. Smith (six) and Collins combined for 10 assists.
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