The Lady Panther Volleyball team picked up their first set win of the season on Thursday night as they defeated Orion 26-24 to start their match against the TRAC foe, but the Chargers would take the next two sets to win the match and move the Panthers to a 0-2 season start.
After a thrilling first set win, the Chargers jumped out to 4-0 lead in the second set. Orion grew their advantage to 12-6 before the Panthers took a timeout to regroup. The move paid off as the Panthers forced a Chargers time out after they tied the set at 16. The Orion reset paid dividends as they reeled off 7 consecutive points to go up 23-16. The lead was too much to overcome for EP as the Chargers evened the match with a 17-25 set win.
The third and decisive set was close from the outset with the Chargers pausing the action after EP gained a 10-8 advantage. The timeout actually benefited EP as they went on a run and built a 14-9 lead after a serving ace. Another Orion timeout helped them begin to chip away at the Panther lead trimming it to 17-16. The Panthers surged again to go up 20-16 but Orion responded as they eventually tied the score at 20. EP could not respond and would only get one more point in the set falling 21-25.
Game Stats
Aces
Reymer 2
Schwartz 2
K. Sibley 2
Kills
Abbott 7
Wiseley 6
Reymer 5
Purvis 5
Assists
Buck 23
Blocks
Reymer 4
Buck 2
Digs
Umstead 15
Neumiller 10
Buck 10
The sophomore Panthers played a really tough three set match against the Chargers coming up just short 25-19, 20-25, 3-15.
The freshman team defeated the visitors in straight sets 25-15, 26-24.
The varsity Panthers will travel to Oregon beginning Friday to take part in an invitational.
