After traveling east, the Lady Panthers returned to Pantherland with three wins under their belt. They first faced the Lady Lions of the Arkansas- Pine Bluff on Nov. 6 then traveled to Mississippi for a double-header against Alcorn State Nov. 7.
The Lady Panthers came out on fire winning the side-out off of the opening serve from the Lions. In the first game, the Panthers used their offensive strength to gain a 5-0 lead on Pine Bluff through a series of kills from junior outside hitter Cheri Lindsay and senior middle blocker Shaun Williams.
The Lady Lions fought hard to overcome the Panthers, but with their errors, it just wasn’t enough. The Panthers took the first match 25-12.
The offense and defense continued to come together to dominate the game. Games two and three followed the suit of the first. Libero Jasmine Hale kept the ball moving as she passed to setter Erin Fondel to set up the play. The Panthers knocked the Lions out of the game with their kills and blocks which lead to a three game victory.
The Lady Lions never reached more than 16 points with final scores of 25-14 and 25-16 in the final two games. Fondel led the team offensively with 20 assists while Hale led the defense with 11 digs.
Reid felt that the team gained the victory because “we played hard the whole match, had fun, and played with focus.”
On Saturday, they met the Lady Braves of Alcorn for the last two matches of regular season conference play. The Braves proved to be no match for the Panthers. The Lady Panthers came out swinging in the first match with a total of 16 kills.
The defense did their part as well blocking the hitters of Alcorn for 10 points. The Panthers swept the Braves in three games (25-16, 25-13, 25-12).
After a well-played match, they prepared to face the Braves a second time that day. The Braves gathered themselves and played harder in an attempt to overcome the Panthers.
The Alcorn offense hit their best, but wasn’t ready for the wall of blockers that awaited them. Sharonda Marshall led the team with a total of 10 blocks to Alcorn and 11 kills. Hale once again dominated the floor with a total of 44 digs.
With these matches, the Panthers ended SWAC regular season play and are now preparing for the SWAC tournament. Right side hitter Keandra Pickett stated that “regardless of the wins, we still have some work to do to prepare for the SWAC Tournament.”
The SWAC tournament will take place on Nov. 21 and 22 on the campus of Grambling State University.