The Lady Panthers volleyball team tried to take advantage of home court in three back-to-back matches against Grambling State on Wednesday, Huston-Tillotson on Thursday, and against UT-San Antonio on Friday. But only the match against Huston-Tillotson ended in a Lady Panther victory.
The Lady Panthers opened the home series with a loss to fellow SWAC conference member Grambling State. Prairie View started the game off with an error. On the first serve, Sapphire Reid shanked the ball, which was the first of a series of errors for the team. The team strived throughout the match to regain their composure bringing the heat on defense. Sharonda Marshall and Shaun Williams blocked the competition as the Tigers brought the heat with their hitting game. After a long struggle between the two competitors, the Lady Tigers proved victorious after three sets with scores of 18-25, 14-25, and 23-25.
On Thursday, the Lady Panthers faced the Huston-Tillotson Lady Rams. The Lady Panthers came out confident and ready to play. Outside hitter Cheri Lindsey delivered a series of point-stealing serves that the Lady Rams were unable to return. The Panthers were ready on all fronts: defense, offense, and all other aspects of the game. Their fierce play gave them victory after three sets: 25-22, 26-24 and 25-19.
The Lady Panthers’ consistency didn’t continue against the Roadrunners of UT-San Antonio, as Friday afternoon was a totally different game. In the first set against the Roadrunners, the Lady Panthers fought for their victory. This one-set victory didn’t prove to be enough to deter the determination of UTSA. The Roadrunners came out swinging and won the next three sets to take the game 3-1. Lindsey led the team with a total of fourteen kills. The Lady Panthers fell short scoring 27-25, 11-25, 19-25, and 18-25.
Right now, the Lady Panthers have numerous games lined up before their late November trip to Grambling, La. to participate in the SWAC Tournament, but they know it’s important to be clicking now.
“We need to come out right away and jump on teams at the beginning,” said Lindsey. Marshall also added, “We need to execute everything we practice and then we’ll succeed.
The Lady Panther volleyball team will be in action again at the Baby Dome on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009 at 7 p.m. against the Lady Tigers of Texas Southern University. They will then travel to Baton Rouge, La. to participate in the Southern Invitational from Oct. 9-10.