Put-in-Bay School volleyballers earn a hard-fought victory in the home opener for the Panthers. The Panthers welcomed into the Jim Poulus Rec facility the Monclova Christian Thunder. The Panthers won in a back and forth, five-sets match: 25-9, 19-25, 27-25, 16-25, 15-12. The Panthers came out the gate hot with an impressive 25-9 win. The Thunder bounced back, taking advantage of mental errors by the Panthers for a 25-19 win. In the third set the Panthers showed grit facing set point 24-23. Th team evened the game up and won 27-25.
In the fourth game the Thunder, behind strong serving, easily defeated the Panthers 16-25. This set up a final set to 15. The Panthers started out with a 5-2 lead, but Monclova evened the game and the team traded points to 12-12. Junior Kate Byrnes stepped up to serve and delivered two aces, finding the weak spots in the defense. The Panthers made the final play to win 15-12. The Panthers were lead by Macy Ladd’s 10 kills, Elena Schroeder’s 8 aces, and Kate Byrnes’14 assists. The Panthers next competition is against their cross-lake foes at Danbury on Saturday, 12 September. Go Panthers! Get your Grrrowl on!