Panthers fall to Shenandoah after two close contests

Though the final score was lopsided, the Panthers (4-3, 0-1) forced the Fillies to work for the final two sets Thursday at home, keeping it close to the end.

Creston lost the Hawkeye 10 matchup 3-0 (25-15, 26-24, 25-20). They came back to three in a row at the Lenox tourney Saturday.

“I felt like the girls played hard,” coach Naomi Sharp said of the Shenandoah matchup. “There was never a moment I looked out there and they looked like, ‘we are gonna lose this game.’”

Sharp was back at the helm after a tumultuous week following a family emergency.

“I was really proud with how the girls showed up focused and ready to play,” Sharp said. “Blair [Glendenning] and [Trish Dickinson] are doing an amazing job in my absence. The whole team has really rolled with the punches.”

The first set started as a back-and-forth, the Panthers taking a 12-11 lead before giving up six consecutive points. A Shenandoah ball landed out of bounds to give the ball back to the Panthers. Mila Kuhns and Ella Turner each scored on a kill, but the Fillies went on a four-point run to end the set 25-15.

In the second set, the Panthers found the first point on a setter dump, but a serve into the net gave the ball to the Fillies who went on to score two more.

“We had way too many unforced errors, penalties, missed serves at moments we had momentum and then we lost it,” Sharp said. “That comes from playing more and learning how to finish. We’re not quite there yet.”

The Fillies took advantage of their momentum, going up 12-6 and then 21-15 before Sharp called a timeout.

“I said we’ve got to quit playing in defensive mode and play more in an attack mode,” Sharp recalled. “That really carried over, and they kept that mentality more. It’s playing ‘don’t let them get a kill’ versus ‘we want to get a kill.’ That’s a mindset shift. We’ve got to think, we have to dig it up so we can get a point, not dig it up so they don’t get a point.”

Returning all-conference hitter Jaycee Hanson took the next point on a kill. She was all over the court with eight kills, a block assist and seven digs.

The Panthers battled back to be down two, 23-21 when an impressive volley saw Turner diving twice to keep the ball alive, giving Hollynn Rieck the chance to dump the ball over the net and creep closer to their score. Rieck had 10 kills and 10 assists on the night.

Another kill by Hanson tied the score at 23 apiece, then the score was tied at 24, forcing extra points. Shenandoah earned a point on a kill and then a serve that hit the net and went over, falling into a Panthers’ gap.

In the final set, again, the Panthers put up the first points, but then the Fillies went on a 5-point run. After Shen’s ball fell out of bounds, sophomore Hope Henderson stepped up to serve. She got back to her position at the net during the volley, earning a point on a kill. New to the varsity lineup this year, Henderson had three kills and a block assist against the Fillies.

She came back to serve two aces before Hanson had a nice kill on the next serve, tying the game at 5.

“She did a really nice job,” Sharp said. “She’s a sophomore, never played varsity. She was nervous before the game, but I took her by the shoulders and I said this is what you’re meant to do, you’re meant to play volleyball.”

The game stayed close, tied at 7, then 8 and at 9. When the Panthers were down 13-12, Hanson and Henderson teamed up for a nice block to tie it at 13. Though it was the only block of the night, Sharp was happy with the number of touches at the net.

“Hope and Braylee [Pokorny] both had lots of touches at the net,” she said. “For as short as we are, we are getting touches.”

Pokorny had the other ace for the team that had three on the night. Rieck and Mila Kuhns each went 100% on serves. Kadley Bailey was consistent with setting throughout the matchup, logging 16 assists on the night.

Again, the Panthers and Fillies traded points, tying the game at 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 before Shenandoah pulled away on a four-point run.

Creston caught up to a 22-20 deficit, but Shen scored the final three points unanswered to take the match win.

It was a shut-out in the Panthers’ favor at Lenox Saturday. Creston didn’t drop a set, winning 21-11 and 21-7 over Diagonal; 21-8 and 21-12 against Bedford and a 21-9, 21-14 championship win over Lenox.

The Panthers travel to Atlantic Tuesday for an H10 triangular with Lewis Central. They return home Thursday, Sept. 19 to host Denison-Schleswig in another conference matchup.