One thing the Eagles learned for certain is how hard it is to play a playoff game at Panama High School as the Panthers won in three sets by scores of 25-11, 25-18 and 25-19.

“Since COVID, we really haven’t had the stands full,” Panama head coach Tammy Hosier said about the atmosphere of Thursday’s playoff game. “The student section was on fire and the girls just eat that up. That absolutely helps.”

Panama set the tone in the first set with a dominant victory that saw most of North Collins’ points scored by the few errors Panama made. North Collins couldn’t catch a break as Panama cruised to victory on the back of a six-point run and then a 10-point run to close out the set.

“Momentum is key in the game of volleyball,” Hosier stated. “That’s where we have been struggling and tonight they kept that high energy. If there was a mistake, they could let it go and the momentum took over.”

North Collins’ Morgan Kreinheder (20) attempts a spike during Thursday’s Section VI Class D quarterfinal volleyball match at Panama. Providing the defense for the Panthers are Mandy Brink (3) and Kylie Morgan (3). Photo by Debb Bailey

In the second set, it looked like things were headed to a short evening, but when trailing 22-11, things started to click for the young North Collins squad. The Eagles rallied for six points in a row to force a Panama timeout and added some needed confidence to the visiting squad.

“I’m very happy with their performance,” North Collins head coach Dave Burgstahler said about his team. “This kind of environment, experiencing this at a young age and being down in each game and battling back. Of course, I would like it closer, but we get to that 18 or 19 mark and I’m good with that. I’m happy and excited for the future.”

The North Collins rally was a little too late to steal the win, but it was a sign of improvement heading into the third set.

However, that momentum did not carry over for North Collins as it struggled to string together consecutive points and Panama jumped to a quick 12-3 lead. Then things got worse as Panama built a 19-8 lead, but then the Eagles began to figure it out after they called a timeout.

From the timeout until the end of the match, North Collins outscored Panama 11-6, but still came up short 25-19.

The North Collins effort was led by Mackenzie Jaworski with eight kills and an ace, Zoe Kreinheder had five kills and Cate Ayers added 13 assists. The Eagles finish the season with a 13-6 overall record.

“This group is young,” Burgstahler said about his team. “We have seventh- and eighth graders that start, then we have freshmen on the team, so we’re young. We do have some experienced players that we’re going to be missing, but we have another group of young players coming off the bench ready to fill that void next year.”

Panama will now take on No. 1 Randolph on Tuesday, thanks largely to the play of Jo Bailey with 11 kills and three blocks. Mandy Brink had 25 assists, 18 digs, four aces and four kills; Sarah Harvey added 11 digs, seven kills and two aces; Kylie Range made six digs and five aces; and Corinne Hovey made 13 digs.

“Honestly, I couldn’t be prouder of them,” Hosier stated. “We haven’t been playing well and that was my message. They came through and played great.”