St. Croix Central volleyball team suffers first Dunn-St. Croix Conference losses

• Abby Harrington

St. Croix Central’s Abby Harrington drives a shot over the net during a recent Panther match.

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The upbeat start by the St. Croix Central volleyball team was tempered last week when the Panthers suffered their first two Dunn-St. Croix Conference losses.

The Panthers lost matches to Mondovi and Pepin last week, evening Central’s conference record at 2-2 this season. The Panthers continue their D-SC schedule this Thursday with a home match against Spring Valley. They will also be in action next Tuesday, playing at Boyceville.

Mondovi defeated the Panthers in four games last Tuesday at Central. The Panthers opened the night with a 25-23 win, but Mondovi took the next three games 25-22, 25-19 and 25-13.

“It was Homecoming, which always causes high emotions and distractions for the girls,” said Central co-coach Laura Lee.

The usually formidable Panther hitting attack didn’t have much of an impact against Mondovi. No Panther had more than two hit kills. The same went for the team’s hitting. The Panthers didn’t record a single ace serve in the four games that night.

The most outstanding stat of the night for the Panthers was a product of the defensive effort by senior Laura DeSmith. She finished the match with 14 digs.

The Panthers went to Pepin last Thursday and it ended up being an arduous back-and-forth battle, which the Lakers won in five games. Central won the opening game 25-13, but Pepin was just as controlling in the second game, winning 25-16. Central took a hotly contested third game 25-23, but Pepin answered back again, winning the fourth game 25-19.

The fifth game was an exhaustive battle, with Pepin winning 16-14.

In almost every facet of the game, the Panthers were more productive at Pepin than they were against Mondovi. Kayla Pabst delivered seven block kills. She and Madison Malecek each scored with three hits kills. Jessa Klinger scored with three ace serves and Abby Harrington led the team with three digs.

The Panther coaches said the team needs to get back to the level it was playing in the previous weeks instead of focusing on these losses.

Tags: sports, panthers, volleyball, prep