The Panther’s are looking for redemption as they begin their second round of district play. Last week varsity volleyball played the South Grand Prairie Warriors and the Grand Prairie Gophers. The team fought hard, but the results don’t reflect their effort.

Friday the Panthers hosted the Warriors at Sandra Meadows. In the beginning of set one it was very close, with seesaw like rallies, they would get a point we would get a point. Then the communication just stopped, which resulted in the Warriors taking the first set 17-25. The Panther’s started off set two in hole, they couldn’t get a pass during serve receive, which eventually caught up with them, 16-25. Set three was almost an exact replica of set one, and ultimately produced the nearly same results, 14-25.

“We need to execute,” head coach Lyn Evans said, “We can’t just hope the other team will make a mistake.”

Tuesday the Panthers went into five intense matches with the Gophers. They started off the first set strong and were one ace away from taking set one,but they couldn’t get their serves under control and it cost them the set, 24-26. In set two you could see the fatigue in the teams eyes and the Gophers saw it too and took control of the game,  16-25. Heading into set three the Panthers knew that they were going into five sets, no matter what they had to do. So in set three the Panthers started off strong and finished strong,  25-17 . Into the middle of the fourth set the points just kept adding up for Panthers. Sophomore outside hitter Mahlia Miller was successfully tipping may ball to three, and junior libero Zoe Romo was digging the majority of the balls that came her way. The help lead the team to winning set four, 25-22  . Unfortunately the Panthers couldn’t dig themselves out of another hole in set five, which goes to fifteen and don’t have a cap. They ended the night  16-18 .

“I can walk away with my head held high because I know we left it all out on the floor,” junior middle blocker Riana Williams said.

Don’t forget to come out and support your Panther volleyball team Friday night at Sandra Meadows Arena as they go up against local rivals the Cedar Hill Longhorns.

Sub-Varsity

This season sub-varsity has performed very well and it shows in their play. However, Friday the Warriors were aware of their weaknesses and took both sets,  14-25 and  18-25. Tuesday when the Panthers played at Grand Prairie the team proved themselves. In the beginning of set one it was apparent to the audience that the Gophers would take set one, the beginning score was 0-7. The Panthers never stop fighting and was able to take set one and come out of a huge hole,  25-14. Thier momentum carried onto set two and they were able to defeat the Gophers,  25-18.