STRONG START — Abby Wacholz smacks a spike during the season opener for the NRHEG volleyball team. The Panthers were on the road twice last week, winning two of three to start the year. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)
For a while, it looked as if the NRHEG volleyball team might be off to a 3-0 start.
But things changed quickly and they didn’t get any better.
The Panthers, who started last week with a 3-1 at Nicollet, won game one 25-20 at Kenyon Thursday night but dropped the next three 25-10, 25-12, 25-15.
“We started out aggressive in game one,” said Panthers coach Onika Peterson. “We took advantage of their errors and were able to make some runs. Kenyon battled back. They really made our defense work in games 2-4. They did a nice job switching up their hits, and adjusting to what are defense was giving them.
Individual statistics vs. Kenyon-Wanamingo: Maddie Wagner 1 kill, 11 digs, 2 ace blocks; Marnie Wagner 4 kills, 12 digs, 1 ace block; Abby Wacholz 4 kills, 1 dig, 5 ace blocks, 3 ace serves; Gretchen Ramaker 2 kills, 4 digs, 2 ace block; Hailey Schuller 3 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace block; Sophia Fischer 1 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace block; Emily Eder 1 kill; Anna Lundberg 10 assists, 1 dig; Abby Christopherson 5 digs, 2 ace blocks; Rachel Collins 4 kills; Corrie Powell 4 digs.
The NRHEG junior varsity lost 3-1.
The Panthers won 3-1 at Nicollet, dropping game two 25-14 while winning the others 25-15, 15-17, 26-24.
Individually: Mad. Wagner 3 kills, 5 digs, 3 ace blocks; Mar. Wagner 3 kills, 2 digs, 3 ace blocks; Wacholz 5 kills, 1 dig, 5 ace blocks; Schuller 2 kills, 1 dig, 3 ace blocks; Christopherson 1 kill, 2 digs; Fischer 1 kill, 1 ace block; Lundberg 11 assists, 2 digs; Collins 5 assists, 1 dig; Ramaker 1 assist, 1 ace block; Powell 2 digs.
The Panthers hope to bounce back when they travel to Maple River for their conference opener Thursday, Sept. 10.
