The Lady Panthers traveled to Princeton on Tuesday and put together a second consecutive straight set win as they defeated the Tigresses 25-16, 29-27. Princeton falls to 6-8 with the loss.
EP coach Rachel Bramm, said prior to the conference match she told her team to focus on not getting down early. They took the message to heart in the first set as they got out to a 3-0 lead. Princeton tied the set at 6 before building a 19-11 advantage. EP kept the margin the rest of the way to record a 25-16 set win.
Princeton rebounded with an ealy 4-1 lead to start the second set. The Panthers rallied to tie the set at 4 but the Tigresses responded with a 5-0 run to go up 9-5 with EP asking for time. The message was received in the Lady Panther huddle as they scored 6 of the next 8 points for an 11 all tie on an ace by Emma Anderson. The teams traded points over the next few minutes before the home team took a 19-18 lead, growing it to a 23-20 lead. Princeton got to set point at 24-22 but could not close out. A smash from the left side of the net by EP’s Zoey Stuart tied the contest at 24 with Princeton calling a timeout. Both teams had opportunities to win the set before arriving at a 27-27 tie. The Panthers grabbed a 28-27 lead and handed the ball to Lia Milem who served up an ace to win the set 29-27.
“We had some really fantastic, efficient offensive performances across the board tonight, which makes us a very difficult team to defend against,” said Bramm. “I was very proud of the girls for their ability to dig their heels in during the second set and bring home a win over one of our biggest conference foes.
EP Stats
Alaina Frank: 10 kills, 13 digs
Lauren Punke: 5 kills (0.833), 2 blocks
Wynn Renkes: 9 digs, 3 aces
Lia Milem: 3 kills, 26 assists, 9 digs, 1 ace
The Lady Panthers (9-3) will look to defend their title at the Pearl City Invitational on Saturday.
