The 2018 Lady Panther volleyball team took their show on the road to Calhoun County to open up their season. Some of the Lady Panther big guns returned, packing pretty good powder with some added heat.
Early in the week, their game was up and down with scrimmages against Fayetteville and Nicholas County. Fayetteville was like taking balloons from a clown, and Nicholas County was like taking a ham hock from a Pit Bull. The Lady Panthers had a tough time stopping the short set of Nicholas; it was fast and unpredictable. However, with those games flushed down the toilet, the season officially began at Calhoun. Some of the Lady Panthers have the leaping ability of a deer and, at the height of their jump, can hit a volleyball fast enough to win a quarter mile drag. Well, let’s just say that the Lady Panthers have more than one star hitters, and this will keep the other side guessing for sure. Not only do the Lady Panthers have a kill line, they also have girls that can play some tough defense. These ladies do not care to throw their bodies onto the floor to save the shot. The setters set the ball sharp as a laser.
Over the years, the game against Calhoun is always a war on the floor. This game, they battled with Calhoun County, generally a powerhouse in the sport of volleyball. The Lady Panthers’ cannons were primed and loaded, and they fired the kill shots. Not all of them hit their mark, and the Lady Red Devils had their chances. In the end, they just couldn’t take the Lady Panther battering. They played a total of three games, with the Lady Panthers struggling a little in one of them but managing to pick up the win. In volleyball, there is no time to stand flatfooted. The Lady Red Devils were not willing to go down easy and were dropping bombs of their own, but most were picked up by the Lady Panther defense. In the end, it didn’t matter as the Lady Panthers took all three games by force and notched their first win of the season.
The Lady Panthers also played in a Doddridge County tournament and went head to head against some of the best teams in AA. They bested Fayetteville and Braxton, but when it came down to driving the nail, they lost to Roane 1-2 and Williamstown 1-2. These teams really put their spurs into the Lady Panthers this time, but you can be sure the Lady Panthers will get ready for their next meeting. There is still a lot of volleyball left to play. The girls will be back home against Gilmer on Tuesday. Go Lady Panthers!
