Monmouth, ILL. -- The Principia Volleyball team began their season with two matches at Monmouth College. First the lady Panthers took on Lincoln Christian University, and won the match in four sets.
The two teams traded points for most of set one with consistent serving and passing—until late in the set. Later in set one, the Panthers seemed to lose a little focus, missing a few serves and being scored on with balls they would normally dig. This led to a nail biter ending with Principia taking it 26-24. LCU came out strong and fiery in set two and the Panthers were quickly down 9-15. The Prin women fought hard to find their rhythm again and to minimize silly mistakes. They climbed back in the game and made LCU work harder, but it was too little, too late losing 21-25. That seemed to wake the lady Panthers and the rest of the match was stronger and more consistent and filled with winning team play. Principia won game three 25-18, and took game four in a commanding 25-11 to move to 1-0 on the season.
The Panthers showed some depth in their offense with
Sophia Hathaway and
Nikki Matters recording 11 and 9 kills respectively, and
Sarah Ungerleider and
Noelle Shoemake each putting down 7 kills to add to the offensive effort. Senior libero
Mia Gill led the back court with spot on passing and picked up a match high 26 digs as well.
The Panthers played back to back today competing against host Monmouth College next. Nothing was easy in this match, thanks to a tough and determined MC squad. MC was scrappy on defense, as was Principia, and the rallies lasted forever! Monmouth definitely found their offensive rhythm, and Principia didn't do what was necessary to take them out of it. Monmouth executed better than Principia did, and won the match 25-19, 25-22, 27-25. The Panthers showed great teamwork and composure as they tried to start the offensive fire, but they just didn't put the ball on the ground as well as Monmouth, and ended up making too many hitting errors as they tried to right the ship.
We asked senior captain and outside hitter
Sophia Hathaway what she is most excited about this season now that the team has the first two matches under their belt? "I am so excited to see how we grow together both on the court and off! The games that we've played have shown me how cohesive, powerful, and smart we are as a team."
The Panthers appreciated such gritty determined play from their opponents, because they know it is what they need to grow in their competitive constancy this season. Principia hosts Greenville University in Elsah this coming Tuesday. We'd love to see you in Hay Fieldhouse or to have you join us through the live stream.
