But the Trojans did have struggles when falling behind in matches.

In Wednesday’s first match at Panama, the Trojans had to play with a lead and from behind to secure the first win for head coach Maddy Alexander by scores of 25-22, 25-18, 24-26 and 25-16.

“For the past couple of years, we have struggled when we get down,” Alexander said. “So this year a lot of my focus has been building back and stopping those runs early. I’ve been really paying attention to when a team goes on a run of three or more points and I want to make sure we counter that just as well as they come at us.”

It did not take long for the Trojans to get adjusted to the new year, coming out hot in the first set with a 7-point run and building up a 15-6 lead.

Southwestern’s Bella Sirianni sets up a teammate during Wednesday’s nonleague match in Panama. P-J photo by Christian Storms

“It was definitely a quick start for us, which I wasn’t expecting with the first-game jitters,” Alexander said. “But they came out really strong and I think it built a lot of their confidence not knowing what to expect going into the first game of the season.”

Taking over for longtime coach Tammy Hosier, Madalyn Bowen’s Panama squad took some time adjusting. However, while it looked like the Trojans would roll past Panama in the first set, Bowen got her girls going in the right direction and they battled back into the contest.

Panama finished strong, but the early lead was too much as Southwestern survived the first set 25-22.

“We dug ourselves a hole,” Bowen said. “As soon as we have just one person get really excited, get that momentum back on our side, the whole team follows and our crowd plays a big role in our team’s energy.”

“After digging that hole, we did a good job digging ourselves out of that hole all due to energy, team connection and chemistry,” Bowen added.

Panthers’ Kaitlyn Horton spikes the ball. P-J photo by Christian Storms

Then, in the second set, it was the same thing with Southwestern starting on a 5-0 run and building an 11-3 lead. Starting with that cushion again proved helpful for the Trojans as they held off another Panama comeback and finished strong with a 6-0 run to reach match point at 24-17, eventually finishing 25-18.

Southwestern found a lot of success from the service line as both Madi Burnett and Payton Swartz had six aces.

“Last year, I focused on it a ton in jayvee,” Alexander said about serving. “If you can’t serve, you can’t play the game. So to have those strong serves from the endline, it’s a little risky to have those tough serves and put that much power into them, but it pays off when it does work.”

While not scoring at the service line, Bella Sirianni directed traffic with 47 assists on top of her two aces. Siri DuBois had 15 kills along with two aces; Burnett added seven kills, Sirianni four and Swartz two. On defense, DuBois had three blocks and nine digs; Sirianni had six digs; Burnett two digs; and Swartz had 17 digs.

“The players I was really hoping would show out tonight definitely did,” Alexander said about her team. “It’s definitely an all-around effort with this team and every single one of them showed up tonight so I’m super proud of them.”

Trojans’ Reagan Stutzman sends a ball over the net. P-J photo by Christian Storms

After getting behind in the first two sets, Panama matched Southwestern in the third set and led throughout the period. The Trojans stuck around even when it looked like the Panthers would pull away and even tied the score at 24, but Panama prevailed for the 26-24 victory.

“With the third set our mentality was a little bit different,” Bowen said. “Bringing the girls in, asking them what they’re thinking every time before they serve-receive, what are they having in their head. Finding those spots on the other floor and again when we have good team chemistry it shows on that court.”

Kiera Loberg led the offense for Panama with 10 assists, three kills and an ace, and Annie Becker had three aces. Defensively, Kaitlyn Horton had five blocks and five digs; Loberg had 17 digs and a block; both Emma Cooper and Lilly Hyde had eight digs; and Becker had six digs.

“Honestly, I loved it,” Bowen said about taking over. “Missing Tammy Hosier so much, but I loved it, I thrive off of it. It seems like the girls are having fun and I can’t wait to see what the season holds.”

Panama jumped out to an early lead again in the fourth set with a 6-point run and it looked like the Panthers might pull off the comeback. However, Alexander’s Trojans buckled down and started stringing together points before securing the first win of the season 25-16.

“It feels great,” Alexander said about getting her first win as coach. “I knew Panama was going to come out with a ton of energy, as did we. We had to battle a little bit as expected, they always have a great team here and an awesome crowd to play in front of. It was just nice to get a win in a gym like this.”

The Trojans (1-0) are at Jamestown tonight as they seek their first league victory, while Bowen will seek her first win as coach of the Panthers (0-1) today hosting Clymer.

“I think it went well,” Bowen said about her first game as coach of Panama. “I have to give big props to Southwestern, big props to Maddy Alexander, they have a great program, a great serving team. But overall I think it went well, there’s always a lot to work on and we are excited to learn from the match and get to our match against Clymer.”