By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The Lady Panther volleyball team already had a convincing win against Dodge City back on Sept. 6. Thursday evening was more of the same at home. Great Bend dominated the first two sets in the best-of-five match 25-11, 25-14, then finished off the Red Demons 25-19 in the third.
"This one is always nice after having a couple losses last weekend," said Lady Panther coach Shelly Duvall. "It builds the girls' confidence back up."
Great Bend scored the first three points of the night, then scored seven-straight points in the middle of the first set to lead 14-2. Makenzie Premer and Valarie Luna each put down blocks, and Paige Thexton added a pair of aces in the run. The blockers were big, especially in the first two sets.
"We put up big blocks tonight," Duvall said. "Having Val back full force makes a big difference. But even our pins are starting to play pretty big at the net. It's big for our defense."
A block from Kara Feist gave the Panthers an early 5-4 lead in the second, and an ace from Lauryn Davis kept the score moving for good at 10-7. Luna and Rylie Duvall came up big at the net with seven of eight points in a stretch to extend the gap to 20-9.
Dodge City played some inspired volleyball in the third set, pulling ahead 14-11 midway through. Cassie Ellegood ended that with a hit, and the Panthers pulled even at 16 with the help of a tip from Luna and an ace from Macy Nachtigal. Great Bend scored 14 of the final 19 points of the match to end the night early.
The Lady Panthers move to 12-7 overall heading into Saturday's home tournament.