Permian Basin volleyball fans were treated to a smorgasboard of action Monday night inside the Permian Fieldhouse.
Opening their 2017 season, the Lady Panthers hosted a double-dual featuring Pecos, Andrews and Odessa High, with the ECISD rivals not meeting on the night.
But there was still plenty of fast-paced action and when the final whistle sounded, the Lady Panthers were the only ones unscathed, going 2-0 on the night. Pecos and Odessa High each split their matches, with Andrews dropping both contests.
The results were:
>> Pecos defeated Odessa High, 18-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-18.
>> Permian defeated Pecos, 25-19, 25-17, 25-16.
>> Odessa High defeated Andrews, 19-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-25, 15-11.
>> Permian defeated Andrews, 25-19, 25-12, 25-15.
Permian coach Gillian Herrera was happy with what she saw on the night, but knows that the Lady Panthers have to keep improving each day and match to be competitive once District 2-6A play begins.
“I thought we served well tonight and serve receive was good for us, too,” Herrera said. “And that’s something that we really need to be doing well to get some easy points or to get our opponents out of system as much as we can.
“We still have to work on setter-hitter connection and some other things but I thought this was a good night against two good teams that are going to compete in their districts all year.”
On the night, hitters Tristiana Abila and Hallie Silvas each finished with 15 kills in the two victories, with Hanna Hetherington chipping in 11 for the Lady Panthes. Setters Chloe Rivera and Karissa Cortez combined for 52 assists on the night.
It was a rough start for the Lady Bronchos, who opened their season Monday with a pair of matches at El Paso Franklin.
They came out strong, winning the first set easily before the Eagles found their offensive rhythm in the second and third sets to take the lead, eventually putting a tired Odessa High team away in the fourth set.
The Lady Bronchos (1-3) were led by Alexis Luna’s 24 kills, with Adalia Elizondo adding 18 to the mix on the day. Natalie Benavides and Brianna McClure combined for 63 assists in the two games, with McClure adding three aces.
Pecos was led by outside hitter Jaylin Burleson’s 28 kills on the day, with middle blocker Marina Sanchez adding 21.
“Pecos played well and got out to a fast start in the second and third sets,” Odessa High coach Victoria Smith said. “We didn’t finish.
“I thought we did a better job against Andrews after losing the fourth set and then coming back in the fifth set to win the match. That’s something that this team has to learn to do and it was good to see.”
As for the Lady Mustangs, setter Tori Gray was the guiding force, finishing with a combined 59 assists on the day, including 42 in the five-set loss to Odessa High. Andrews had three players--Madison Thompson (17), Challys Morris (16) and Alivia Mayfield (12) with double-digit kills, so the future is bright for the young Lady Mustangs.
Despite the pair of setbacks, Coach Britney Hanna saw plenty of positives on the night.
“We played two big schools,” Hanna said.”And I saw our girls compete the entire night.
“We are a younger team this year, so they are learning, and these types of matches are going to help us get better as we get ready for district.”
