(Guthrie Center, IA) – The ACGC Chargers earned a big win in the match against Panorama as they beat the Panthers 3-0. ACGC did not complete the match without faults of their own, but worked together as a team and used their talents to overpower the Panthers late in every set.
In the first set of action, ACGC was able to keep it close with Panorama with the hitting ability of Stella Largent as she was great on the outside in the front row, keeping the Chargers in every point of contention. The Chargers looked like at many points things were going to be a piece of cake, but missed multiple serves. With the free points given to the Panthers, the set stayed close but ACGC was able to run with it and beat Panorama 25-15 to finish off the first set. ACGC head coach Barb South knows that her team is much better in the serving game and did not show it on Tuesday.
ACGC continued on into the second and things started off with missed serves for both sides of the floor once again. However, the motivation started to spike on the Charger’s side of the floor and so did their players. With multiple spikes by Mersadez Richter and Stella Largent, the Chargers were able to help pull themselves away with a big lead and continue to go down the path of success, winning the second set 25-13.
When it came to the third set, things were beyond different for the Chargers, as they saw the momentum shift towards Panorama for the first time in the match. After a volley back-and-forth, Panorama’s Elizabeth Snyder helped to edge her team back into it and changed the attitude of her teammates to push forward over ACGC. With the Chargers in a pinch, coach South called a much-needed timeout to bring her players back cohesively and get the game plan on the floor. ACGC wanted to win this match in three, and they were going to do so at every cost while eliminating the errors. Shay Lemke was struggling but came into her own element after the timeout.
At one point, with the Panthers down by just three, senior captain Mersadez Richter went back to serve for ACGC. This was one of the biggest runs that they made overall, she didn’t ace every serve on the floor, but served consistently and led her team in the back row to put them back on top. Richter was a team leader and was the spark the Chargers needed to finish the match.
ACGC finished the third match, winning 25-17. The Chargers are now 7-2 this season and will host their own volleyball invite this Saturday starting at 9 a.m. Panorama came out of the match sitting at 1-6, and are looking for their first win since August 22nd, and have a chance next Tuesday against Earlham at 7:00 p.m.
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