Elsah, ILL. -- Moving to 10-2 with a nail-biter 5 set victory over Westminster College, the Panthers give major props to the fans for this victory. When execution was a bit shaky and the Bluejays made a comeback, the fans were rock-solid and created the kind of positive energy in the gym that spurred the team on to the victory.
The Bluejays were making a ton of unforced errors in games one and two, basically giving it to Principia. The Panthers were playing pretty well, but we were all wondering what it would be like if Westminster started to wake up. Game three was the time. WC served better, connected with some nice quick attacks in the middle, and were showing their scrappy defensive side too. After PC took game one and two 25-13, 25-15, WC took game three 25-15 – what a crazy sport! Game four was all Westminster as Principia started to make communication and contact errors going down 10-18 at one point. But those  Panthers don't just give up, especially with a crowd like tonight. The Panthers patiently persisted to tie it up 20-20, and the battle continued with WC taking it 25-22. The beginning of game five had Principia playing unified and the Bluejays making a few more errors leading to an 8-5 side change. But, then it was 9-9…..9-11…with both teams battling to not "lose" the point. The Panthers played steady and let WC make the errors earning the "w" 15-13 in the deciding set.
Inside the Box Score
They said it
- Coach Sprague said, "It's not usually all about the win, but tonight it was – when things are tough and you're not running on all cylinders – it's easy to get in your head and lose , but the team stuck with it ball after ball until they finished what they started."
- Libero Mia Gill shared, "Tonight was demanding. We were all thinking Westminster was a strong competitive team, but they didn't show it in the first two games. We weren't prepared for them to come out strong in the 3rd, and that was quite a wake up call. The 4th game was an even bigger challenge as the morale dropped, but clearly we had some spark left in us. I'm so grateful we pulled together in the 5th and dug into our reason for playing – for each other and the love of the game. It's so easy to all work so hard for each other when the love and trust for each other is so evident on the court. I'm already excited to be challenged by them again!"
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Up Next
- The Panthers host St. Louis College of Pharmacy this Saturday at 11am in Hay Fieldhouse.
