Lady Panthers sweep Cardinals and Wildcats in first two rounds of region tournament
Senior Kaylee Leachman prepares to spike the ball against Jonesboro. The Panthers were able to score without difficulty in round one. Starr’s Mill beat the Cardinals in two games, with scores of 25-5 and 25-2.
October 16, 2018
After finishing with a 5-1 region record, the Lady Panthers varsity volleyball team entered the region 3-AAAAA tournament as the No. 2 seed.. Starr’s Mill played their first match on Oct. 10 and their second on Oct. 12. Both ended in 2-0 victories.
Our focus as always is one point at a time.
— head coach Jason Flowers
Their first matchup was against the No. 6 seed Jonesboro Lady Cardinals, who Starr’s Mill defeated in two blowout games. The first game opened with a 6-0 run in the Panthers’ favor, putting the opposition in a hole early on. Jonesboro was able to score one point before the Panthers scored five points in a row. After this, the Cardinals scored two points. However, Starr’s Mill countered with a 11-1 run, which was their largest run of the game, to put them within three points of the win. Jonesboro only scored once more before the Lady Panthers went on a quick 3-0 run to secure a 25-5 win.
“Our focus as always is one point at a time,” head coach Jason Flowers said. “[The team] did very well tonight.”
Game 2 saw the Mill dominate again, opening with another short 3-0 run. The Lady Cardinals were only able to score once before the barrage began, with the Panthers going on an 8-0 run. Jonesboro only scored one more point for the rest of the game, as Starr’s Mill went on 14-0 run to win the game with a score of 25-2, and win the match 2-0.
The Lady Panthers celebrate after winning a game against the Wildcats. Both games in round two were very close, with Starr’s Mill trading the lead with Whitewater several times. Despite the closeness of the match, the Mill won in two games.
“Our communication really helped,” freshman Grace Ramkissoon said. “It starts the foundation of good volleyball.”
The Panthers’ second match was against No. 3 seed Whitewater. Starr’s Mill defeated the Lady Wildcats in two close, intense games.
The first game started with both teams trading the lead, but the Lady Panthers were able to control the pace until Whitewater went on a 6-0 run to gain a 12-8 lead over Starr’s Mill. The Panthers tried to make a run of their own, but strong play on offense and defense allowed the Wildcats to keep a four-point lead. After a timeout, the Mill cut Whitewater’s lead down to one point before they called a timeout of their own. When play resumed, the Lady Panthers gained a 22-20 lead, and closed out the game after scoring three more points to Whitewater’s two, ending with a 25-22 win for the Mill.
“Since [the Wildcats] are so close to our level, we have to push ourselves,” junior Kayla Sloan said. “We know that everything is on the line.”
The second game was just as close as the first, with both teams keeping the score within four points of each other. As the game progressed, the Panthers found themselves down 17-15 when a timeout was called. After the timeout, the rallied back to gain a 23-22 lead, and finished with a 2-1 run to win the game 25-23, and win the match 2-0.
“When I called the timeout, I told [the team] that they’ve come back from bigger deficits,” Flowers said. “It’s one point at a time, and if they focus on that, the end result is a win.”
Staff Writer Ben Barkley will have the rest of the coverage from Region 3-AAAAA volleyball tournament action.
