The Panther volleyball team notched two more wins in the next to the last week of the regular season. Thursday they took on Whitehall and won 25-12, 25-12, 25-9. Saturday it was Belgrade’s JV that fell to the Panthers 25-11, 25-9, 25-10. The wins kept the Panthers in second place in the conference with a record of 6-2, trailing only Three Forks with a 9-0 conference record.
Other conference records have Manhattan at 6-3, Townsend 3-6, Big Timber 2-6 and Whitehall 0-8. Against Whitehall, Ellie Evertz started the scoring with a kill. Haydin Henschel put over an ace, Aubrey McMaster added a pair of aces, and a kill by Emily McGinnis gave the Panthers a 10-2 lead.
A couple more aces by McMaster, two more kills by McGinnis and an ace by Abby Rosenbaum stretched that lead to 19-2. The Panthers finished it off with kills by Katy Twichel and Leah Vossler for the 25-12 win. Game two the Panthers started a younger lineup. Simonie Mendenhall put down a pair of kills to lead the Panthers to a 10-0 start, and shortly after that her block gave the Panthers a 15-1 lead. Whitehall was able to pull within eight at one point, but Callie Warfle ended the run with a pair of aces, and the Panthers went on to win 25-12.
A great dig by Hannah French, who got down low to the floor to save a point, set the pace for the Panthers in game three. Emma Stout put over three aces and the Panthers closed out the match with power from Henschel, Evertz, Vossler and McGinnis to finish the sweep 25-9. McGinnis dominated the net with 8 kills, to which she added 1 dig. Mendenhall was close behind with 7 kills and 1 block. McMaster was a master at the service line, delivering up 4 aces to go with 9 assists while Warfle served 6 well- placed aces and 2 digs. Evertz was powerful on both offense and defense, recording 4 kills and 2 digs.
Vossler turned in 1 ace, 1 kill, 1 block and 3 assists. Other Panther stats: Henschel 1 ace, 2 kills, 1 dig; Ashley Pankratz 3 digs; Twichel 1 dig, 1 block; Jadyn Armstrong 2 digs; Stout 3 aces, 1 kill, 3 digs; and French 3 digs. Hosting Belgrade’s JV, the Panthers started with a block by Evertz, and three kills by McGinnis gave the Panthers a 7-4 lead.
A pair of kills by Mendenhall, an ace by McGinnis, and kills by Abby Rosenbaum and Haydin Henschel aided the Panthers on their way to a 25-11 win. In the second game Coach Mike Majors kept the heavy hitters on the bench early, as the younger players came back from trailing 3-1 to take a 9-8 lead. The next five points went to Belgrade, who took a 13-9 lead. The Panthers were not ready to surrender, though, and a kill followed by a nice block by Evertz started the comeback. The Panthers went on a 10-1 run to take a 19-14 lead. A kill by Warfle made it 21-16, and the Panthers went on to win 25-19. Up two games to none, the Panthers came out for game three firing on all cylinders. Kills by Evertz and McGinnis, an ace by Abbie Rosenbaum, and a block by Mendenhall had the Panthers out front 13-6. Little taps by Evertz and McGinnis set up a hard kill by McGinnis and the Panthers took the third game 25- 10 for the match win.
Panther stats for the match: Haydin Henschel 1 block, 8 digs, 2 kills; Vossler 1 assist, 1 block, 1 dig; Twichel 2 blocks, 1 dig, 2 kills; Kaela Rosenbaum 5 digs; Stout 10 digs, 1 kill; McGinnis 6 blocks, 4 digs, 13 kills, 3 aces; Warfle 1 block, 1 dig, 1 kills; Men- Mendenhall 5 blocks, 1 dig, 6 kills; Armstrong 4 digs; Abby Rosenbaum 19 assists, 7 digs, 1 ace.
This is the last week of the regular season. Thursday is Senior Night when the Panthers host Manhattan. The C squad opens at 4 p.m., the JV follows 20 minutes after C finishes, and varsity follows the JV finish 20 minutes later. Saturday the ladies travel to Big Timber, where the C squad starts a 2 p.m. with JV and varsity following.
The District 5B volleyball tournament runs Friday and Saturday, October 27 and 28, in Belgrade.
