Lady Panthers win pigtail

The Lady Panthers pulled through Monday night with a win against Niobrara County and earned a position in regional tournament. The win came after a tough conference loss against Pine Bluffs on Saturday.

The Lady Panthers took down Niobrara County in four hotly contested sets, 10-25, 27-25, 25-16 and 25-22 during a match that coach Shayley Love said was "loud, out of control, craziness."

Love said that the team struggled through the first set but a fire lit under them and the team came together. The middle blockers stepped up their game and Haley Soles finally found the open spots on the other side of the court.

In a text book case of nothing left to lose the Lady Panther's brought their heart and soul to the court and extended their season.

The Lady Panthers play their first regionals game at 9 a.m. Friday, against No. 1 seed Wright.

The game against the Pine Bluff Hornets (5-3, 16-5) was like David vs Goliath, except in this case Goliath won.

The towering Pine Bluffs team used their height to get past the Saratoga Lady Panthers (1-7, 9-13) at the net and when the Lady Panthers defense returned the ball, Pine Bluff's six-foot girls were able to block the shot.

The Lady Panthers lost in three sets to Pine Bluffs, 11-25, 19-25 and 9-25.

It took the first set for the Lady Panthers to come up with a fighting defense against the Lady Hornets. In the second set, the Lady Panthers put up a good fight and kept the score close.

Junior varsity/varsity player Sierra Schutte, at five foot nine inches, was able to get past the tall players with most of her hits, helping the Lady Panthers score.

While Schutte has the height, Mati Love has the strength in her kills, but rarely could get her fast moving kills past the taller Lady Hornets. When she did, the Hornet's back row was able to make the return.

Several rallies took place as the Lady Panthers worked for every point.

Meredith Lincoln and Justine Fourman teamed up to block the inside hitter. Even with the girls 8 points behind during the middle of the set, they celebrated every point they earned against the Lady Hornets.

In the second set, the Lady Panthers scored the first point, but the Hornets would keep the score tied through the first 4 points. The Hornets scored 5 points, to the Panthers 2.

The Lady Panthers scored a 7th point thanks to a block by Haley Soles and M. Lincoln.

With Soles serving, the Panthers tied the score at 10. The score stayed even to 12 before the Lady Hornets scored 4 unanswered points.

The Panthers played several long rallies and scored 7 points matching the Hornets 7 points before the Hornets scored the next 2 points winning the set 19-25.

The Panthers were tired by the third set, and it showed. They made errors and did not hit like they did in the first and second set. Coach Love also stopped the rotation during the last set leaving the same girls on the court through the entire set.

The Lady Panthers had a few victories on the court, but not enough to overcome a 9-25 loss.