The crowd of 110 quickly emptied the building in disbelief after the Sam Houston Lady Bearkats wiped out the Lady Panthers, 3-0 on Tuesday, Sept. 22. The match marked the Lady Panthers’ 16th game this season and they are off to a rocky start. With only 19 more games until the end of the season, the team has a great chance to win the SWAC championship, but have to improve on its 3-11 record.
In game one the Lady Panthers began to let the match slip away at 4-4. The Lady Bearkats gradually scored one point after another to take control of the game. Sam Houston State’s game one attacking percentage was .143, while the Lady Panthers was .107. The final score of game one was 25-20.
The Lady Panthers held onto their reign a little longer in the second game. Unfortunately, the Lady Bearkats began to pull away once more and took control of the game. The Lady Panthers fought hard, but couldn’t catch up to the Lady Bearkats, as they fell 25-20.
In the last game of the three game sweep, the Lady Panthers and Lady Bearkats went neck and neck as the Lady Panthers tried to steal a game and momentum. Lady Panther Sarah Garcia started the game with two service aces, and Shaun Williams backed her up with a great kill aided by Erin Fondel. Cheri Lindsay had some incredible attacks during the last game, giving her an attack percentage of .053. Williams and Fondel worked as a great defensive team, helping the Lady Panthers team with successful blocking of many attempted points by the Lady Bearkats. However, their strong play wasn’t enough to win the third game. The final score was 25-23.
The win would have been huge for the Lady Panthers who just came off a third place finish in the Lady Panther Invitational. “Everybody was working really hard for their points,” said junior Sharmareka Davis.
The Lady Panthers ended the match with a loss however, making them 4-11 this season and 1-0 in SWAC.
The Lady Panthers host the Grambling State Lady Tigers for a conference match on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. and then invite Huston-Tillotson from Austin, Texas, for the first match of October.