By Fred Kroner
Sixth-seeded Heritage scored an upset over third-seeded DeLand-Weldon on Monday (Feb. 27) in an IESA seventh-grade Class 1A regional quarterfinal tournament match at Champaign Holy Cross.
Heritage upended D-W, 25-22, 11-25, 25-19. The victory snapped a seven-match losing streak.
“Ryann McComas was all over the floor, keeping balls alive for the team, so she is our MVP of this match,” Heritage coach Ryan Fitzgerald said. “A great night for our seventh-graders.”
In the semifinals, on Tuesday (Feb. 28), Heritage took on second-seeded Philo St Thomas and nearly pulled off another upset before falling in three sets, 25-20, 17-25, 25-17.
The seventh-graders (5-15 for the season) suffered a 25-12, 25-23 loss to Westville on Thursday (Feb. 23) to conclude the regular season. Prior to that, Heritage also dropped decisions to Shiloh (25-17, 25-22) and Bement (25-12, 25-14).
The eighth-graders (14-8) dropped a narrow 26-24, 25-17 loss to Westville, which enters the postseason without a loss.
“We had a 23-21 lead in the first set and just couldn’t pull it off,” Fitzgerald said. “They had a strong offense, but our defense, specifically Haylee Shaffer and Addi Hopper, kept us in the game.
“I have had a really fun experience coaching this group this year. They keep getting better every day.”
The eighth-graders also posted a win over Shiloh (25-12, 26-24) and lost to Bement (25-23, 25-18). The loss to Bement snapped a five-match winning streak.
The eight-graders are idle until Wednesday (March 8) in an IESA Class 1A regional game against the winner of a match between fifth-seeded Shiloh and fourth-seeded Chrisman. Heritage is the No. 1 seed at the regional.
