March 28, 2024

Panthers fall a few points short in volleyball opener

Creston fell behind two sets quickly but rallied to take the match to five

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Through two sets Tuesday night, the A-D-M Tigers looked flat out better than the Creston Panthers volleyball team.

Over the next two, it was the Panthers who looked undoubtedly better.

Ultimately, the Tigers pulled out a heart-stopping 15-13 win in the Creston High School gymnasium to win the match 3-2.

The Panthers fall to 0-1 on the season and the Tigers moved to 5-1 with the win.

Creston hosts Clarinda on Thursday.

The Panthers fell in consecutive sets to start the night by matching scores of 25-16.

“Is this how you want it to end tonight?” Creston coach Polly Luther asked her team after the second set.

Creston looked out-of-sync to start its first match of the season, but picked things up after coming back out for the third set. Creston won the third and fourth sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-18.

“We talk a lot about fluency, and until you’re in tough competition it’s hard to get that,” Luther said. “These girls have’t been together a ton this being our first game, and so getting to know each other and our capabilities and what to expect out of one another is pretty key, and I thought that games three, four and five that we handled that much better.”

The Panthers looked more cohesive in jumping out to a 9-5 lead to start the third set after a less-than-great first two sets. MaKenna Hudson and Jaxie Luther began consistently feeding Breanna Wallace and Megan Haley for kills.

Creston yielded its lead and allowed A-D-M to tie things at 12. A misplayed kill attempt allowed Creston to control the serve once more, and the Panthers took advantage of the stopped Tiger momentum by winning 11 of the next 14 points to take a 23-14 lead. The Panthers put the set away with back-to-back kills from Wallace and Haley.

Feeling a surge of confidence, the Panthers shot out to a 5-0 fourth set lead. The set was the arguably the strongest the Panthers looked, as A-D-M struggled to keep up throughout. Creston led by scores of 10-2, 16-9, and 21-14 before ultimately sending the match to a fifth set with a 25-18 set four win.

The Panthers picked up digs at especially opportune times as the action got tight later on.

Haley revved up her motor and played stronger at the net in the final three sets, which was crucial toward the end in getting Creston back into contention.

“The kid has great spirit, especially when she gets rolling,” Luther said. “Boy, it’s important, it is very important to our team that those kids catch that spark and get fired up.”

The fifth set featured the Panthers looking a bit exhausted with the Tigers looking refueled. A-D-M quickly jumped out to an 8-2 lead. The Panthers tied the match at 9-9, lost a point on a long rally, and then Wallace poked the ball into an opening among the Tigers to tie things 10-10.

The Tigers picked up three straight points, served into the net, and then got a point back on the Creston serve to make it 14-11. After a contested call gave Creston one last chance to pull the match out — the game moved to 14-13 — Tigers junior Sami Schepers found space between the Panthers and tapped the ball to the floor to secure the fifth set win by a score of 15-13.

As disjointed as the Panthers looked at times early on, the impressive play came about of the girls own whim. At least, so suggested Luther.

“Sometimes you just kind of have to sit back and it really doesn’t matter what you say how you say it, it’s when they decide to go,” Luther said.

Statistics from the match were not available by press time.