EP celebrated their huge 11 senior roster prior to the varsity contest against Mendota along with the senior Lady Panther golfers.
In usual Senior Night manner an all-senior squad opened the first set for the home team. The Panthers substituted freely in the first set giving every senior playing time. Coach Rachel Bramm actually used all the substitutions allowed in a set.
The Lady Trojans got out to a big lead early going up 7-0. Back-to-back aces by Saige Froeliger made it an 8-4 game. EP could not get their offense in rhythm while the Trojan defense played at a very high level setting up multiple opportunities for their front line. Mendota stretched the lead to double digits at 20-9. EP simply had no answer with the Trojans cruising to a first set win, 25-15.
EP got untracked in the second set as their offense became more rhythmic despite their offensive setter, Kaylee Keegan playing very limited time as she recovers from an ankle injury. With the Panthers trailing 8-6 senior, Lauren Abbott rotated into the service position and turned the tide of the set. Abbott led the home team to 11 straight points, including two aces putting the Panthers up 17-9. Lia Milem also had an impressive serving streak as she helped push the EP lead to 23-11. The Panthers went on to a 25-13 set win to tie the match at one.
The third and decisive set was tied at 4 early before EP went on a 5-1 run with Mendota taking a timeout trailing 9-5. The strategy worked as the Lady Trojans went on a 5-1 run of their own to tie the set at 10. Once again it was Lauren Abbott’s serving ability that made the difference. She started with a pair of aces in her first three serves to make it a 14-11 Panther lead. She engineered EP to a 16-11 advantage forcing a frustrated Mendota squad to take a timeout. Following the one minute break, the senior served her third ace of the stretch to put the senior night crowd into a frenzy with a 6 point lead. EP’s advantage grew to 23-14 before Mendota staged a small rally to get within four at 24-20. Fittingly Abbott delivered the set winning kill as the Panthers recorded their 31st win of the season and concluded a perfect 12-0 conference run.
First year coach Rachel Bramm said, “It was a really special night, being able to recognize an awesome senior class. It’s nearly unheard of to have 11 seniors on a varsity volleyball squad, but this group is really special and has been dedicated to the sport for many years. Fortunately, given our personnel, we were able to get all seniors on the court at some point during last night’s contest and they were all able to help us in one way or another.”
Not only did the Panthers get all of their seniors playing time several had outstanding performances. “Lauren Abbott had 5 aces, 14 digs from Brynn Brown, and 7 kills from Ashlyn Johnson,” said Bramm. “I couldn’t be more proud of this team for capturing the conference champion title with an undefeated conference record for the second season in a row.”
EP will host Morrison next Monday to end their regular season and begin preparations for postseason with their first regional game scheduled for Tuesday, October 26th starting at 6:00PM in Rock Falls.
