Panama Outlasts Maple Grove In South Division Clash
The legions of fans that poured into the gymnasium on Dutch Hollow Road Monday evening to watch a clash of unbeaten South Division volleyball foes got everything they bargained for and more.
“At the state championship I don’t know that we went five sets, but this was almost better volleyball than that,” said Panama coach Tammy Hosier.
It took all of five sets, but the Lady Panthers (9-0, 6-0) were able to hold on to the zero in their loss column, picking up a resilient 25-21,16-25, 26-28, 25-19, 25-23 win over Maple Grove (9-1, 5-1) in a five-set classic that offered up an early contender for best match of the season.
After Hosier’s defending New York State Public Athletic Association Class D champions came out looking confident in the opening frame, the Lady Red Dragons were able to bear down and roll back in the second, before fighting back for a 28-26 win in the third, putting the Lady Panthers in real danger for the first time all year.
A 25-19 fourth set fell in favor of the visitors, who were able to fend off a series of late challenges by the Lady Red Dragons in the decisive fifth on their way to victory.
“I felt like my girls were working really hard and I knew that they were going to hang a little bit with them and work hard against them,” said Maple Grove coach Bayley Johnson. “Panama’s a great team, great program, but I think they did a nice job against them.”
In the opener, Panama was able to roll out to an early lead as they have done so many times in recent games, but Maple Grove never relented and was able to pull within two points courtesy of a service ace by Alyssa Steen and a winner off the net that was struck by Emma Wirsen.
Ultimately it was the strong outside hitting of the Lady Panthers and a block by Gillian Figueroa that sealed the opener.
Much of the second set had both teams jockeying for the lead, with two changes in the lead before meeting deadlocked at 12-12 and again at 14-14. Panama finally showed a few cracks in its armor with a spike finding the net, and another overhand getting fired deep by Natalie Angeletti. Maple Grove countered with a kill down the line by Maddy Russo and a tip-winner from Victoria Lai for a 21-14 lead.
Panama did what it could to try and close that gap, but a service error and a mis-hit ball proved too much to overcome for the visitors.
“I think we just had placement of the ball. We talked about our blocking. Maddie Welsh did a nice job tonight showing that block,” Johnson said of her team’s strong second and third sets. “That’s a huge part of our game. They have some great hitters so we really looked at that and serving holes, we looked at those.”
While the entire evening showcased some of the finest volleyball you are likely to see, it was the epic third set that truly ignited the crowd.
No more than three points separated Panama and Maple Grove through most of the early going, with the teams getting all square at 13-13. From there it looked as though the Lady Panthers may pull away after taking advantage of a missed overhand and a carry by the hosts.
A clutch kill from Lau and some reciprocated mistakes by Panama helped turn the tide back in favor of the Lady Red Dragons, who took the lead back at 27-26 following a net battle that was won by Olivia Pembridge.
In the end, it was a missed serve and another missed overhand that sealed the frame for Maple Grove.
While it was difficult to fall into a 2-1 hole, Panama never panicked and used the hot hand of Madalyn Bowen and some much-needed proficient serving to take back momentum.
“I said, ‘Hey we’ve been here before, we just have to play our game,'” Hosier said. “They had us out of our game and we were just pushing the ball over and giving them free balls. And they were hitting the ball back at us, so we had to keep on hitting. That’s how we’re going to win. Keep on hitting and I just said believe in each other.”
It appeared as though the Lady Panthers might coast to victory in the final frame, but Maple Grove was not willing to relent, piling on the points with an underhand winner from Bre Hill and an ace by Courtney Hemminger to climb out of an early hole. Strong serving by Russo looked like it might be the key to a late comeback for the hosts, but it was another block by Figueroa on a overhand by Russo that completed the win for Panama.
Despite the loss, the Lady Red Dragons look primed for a strong second half of the season after their performance on Monday.
“I think it puts us in a good position,” said Johnson. “I’m happy the way they played and we take every game one step at a time, one match at a time. We will work again to play them. I’m excited to play them again.”
As for Panama, it never hurts to endure an early season test when you have your eye on repeating as a state champion.
“We talk about that — adversity,” said Hosier. “It’s good and especially to come back out with a win.”
NOTES: For the Lady Red Dragons Russo finished with 16 kills, five aces and 12 digs; Maddie Welsh had 14 kills; Bre Hill added12 kills and nine blocks; Hemminger had eight kills; Pembridge collected 38 assists and 11 digs; and Emma added Wirsen 20 digs. … Panama was led by Bowen with seven aces, 30 kills and 21 digs; Quinn Payne added one ace, four kills, 17 digs, and 43 assists; Natalie Angeletti had14 kills, two blocks, 15 digs, and one assist; Maci Johnson collected one ace and 24 assists; and Kylie Schnars added nine blocks.
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