The volleyball teams representing Heritage, Stockbridge, Woodland (Henry County) and Alcovy joined together on Thursday night at Alcovy High School to go head-to-head on the court.
For the second-year Alcovy Lady Tigers, it would be their final matches of the season.
The first match on center court was an area rival match featuring the Lady Tigers (6-31 overall, 1-4 area 8-AAAA) and the Lady Patriots (28-12, 1-5 area 8-AAAA).
Heritage's Rachel Jubran led her team to a 25-16 win with five aces in a row. The Lady Patriots continued to dominate the match, taking the second game 25-8 with five consecutive aces served up by Heritage's Taylor Maloney.
According to Alcovy head coach Suzanne Smith, "It's the same serve-receive problem that they have been stuck in all season. Once someone has two serves on them, they just freeze."
During the second match, the Lady Tigers vied against the Lady Wolfpack (6-15, 4-4 area 4-AAA).
After a 15-minute delay at the beginning of the game due to shadows on the court, it was continued and eventually won by Woodland 25-16. Game two saw the Lady Wolfpack get behind great serving by Woodland's Anna Byars to win 25-18.
On the other court, Heritage took on Stockbridge (2-18, 1-5 area 4-AAAA), winning both games (25-11) and (25-0).
When asked about Alcovy's tendency to lose momentum during the middle of games, Smith responded, "We've really worked on that. My girls have worked really hard to improve in that area and it showed."
In the second and third games, the Lady Tigers showed this improvement by scoring regularly and keeping up the level of intensity throughout both games.
As a result, Alcovy pulled out the third match against Stockbridge by winning the deciding third game. Despite great network by Alcovy's Brittany Jackson, Stockbridge took the first game 25-19 after consecutive aces by Charnelle Carney.
But Alcovy rallied together and won the second game 25-19 with more blocking at the net by Jackson. And after that, Alcovy took the court for the third game ready to win. Megan Watson finished the 25-19 game with two aces after saving points with sensational digs.
Smith took time in between the first and second matches to present orchids and gift bags to her senior players.
"What can you say? They are the core. It's hard to say goodbye," said Smith. "They're my girls. It's hard when you've worked with these girls for two years creating this program."
The Alcovy seniors who were honored on the court were Kyeria Tuggle, Sonja Lindgren, Lilly Rodriguez, Lauren Henderson, Brittany Jackson, Ebony Patrick and LaChelle Hudgins.
The Alcovy Lady Tigers finished the season with a 6-31 overall record and a 1-4 area 8-AAAA record.
