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T’Birds Get Best Of Panama Once Again

By Christian Storms 4 min read

PANAMA -- The Chautauqua Lake Thunderbirds had only lost one set prior to Tuesday and it came against Panama at home. So when the Thunderbirds stepped into the Panama Central High School gymnasium they knew it would be a tough match.

Chautauqua Lake did drop another set, but most importantly the Thunderbirds came away with another 4-1 victory by scores of 25-18, 17-25, 25-17, 25-22 to remain undefeated in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West action.

"It's something we look forward to all year," Chautauqua Lake head coach Joanne Meadows said about playing Panama. "You know you won't put a ball down on the ground too easily. The key is to keep them out of system as much as we can. We try to get the ball to the setter first as much as we can and that seems to really work for us."

The Thunderbirds' (9-0, 9-0) game plan worked in the first set, but the rest of the night would not come easily to them.

Chautauqua Lake's defense is a stingy one and its usual goal is to not allow teams to score consecutive points. That was going according to plan until Panama got hot in the second set and pulled off two huge runs on the way to a second-set victory.

Panama (7-3, 5-3) was just behind Chautauqua Lake 11-8 before it rattled off a six-point run that triggered a Thunderbirds' timeout at 14-11. The timeout helped get Chautauqua Lake out of the current jam, but it only slightly slowed down the Panthers as they scored the final eight points of the set to win 25-17.

"The first set we weren't in sync," Panama head coach Tammy Hosier said. "The second set we came out strong and I felt everyone was meshing together and when that happens great things happen. Volleyball is all about momentum and we were able to keep it in our favor that set."

After leveling the score at 1-1, the Panthers appeared to have all of the momentum, but against a team like Chautauqua Lake it's hard to score consecutive points and even harder to win consecutive sets.

In the early going, Panama stayed in front of Chautauqua Lake, but once the Thunderbirds got their groove going it was game over. Panama led 12-9 before Chautauqua Lake managed to score the next 11 points and took a commanding 20-12 lead.

"I think they always believe they're going to win," Meadows said about her team. "In the third set it was just a new start. They focus on the positives. They trust each other and the process; a bad set happens sometimes and they realize that."

Unlike Chautauqua Lake, Panama did not have the same response to its loss in the third set as the Panthers fell behind early on. The hole the Panthers dug proved to be too much to get out of, but that didn't stop them trying. Panama was down 21-13 before it was able to find its mojo again and score seven points in a row to get right back into it at 21-20.

"That's one thing I'm very proud of is we have a never-give-up attitude," Hosier said about her team. "They want to play well, unfortunately we dug ourselves too big of a hole to get out of. It's tough to beat a team like that getting down that much. We're still working together and I don't think we've peaked at this point, that was my message after the game."

A Chautauqua Lake timeout allowed the Thunderbirds to get their bearings straight to finish out the match with a 25-22 victory.

Chautauqua Lake was led by Hannah Group with 10 kills and seven digs; Alex Reyda had seven kills and one ace; Ava Olson had eight assists, 11 digs, six kills and two aces; Mallory Morrison contributed 19 assists, five kills and 20 digs; Jenna Waters pulled out 32 digs, two aces and two kills; and Jenna Harle added 32 digs, two kills and one ace.

Jo Bailey led the Panthers with 14 blocks, 12 kills and two digs; Sarah Harvey had eight kills and 22 digs; Mandy Brink had 19 assists, three kills and 20 digs; and Corinne Hovey added 20 digs and three aces.

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