The Byron Bears probably were not thinking upset at the start of the Section 2A volleyball tournament.
But the NRHEG Panthers were. And it crossed the Bears’ minds after the first game.
The Panthers, seeded sixth, took game one from the third-seeded Bears 25-22 at Byron Thursday, Oct. 24, but it was all home team after that. Byron won the final three games 25-13, 25-9, 25-13 to end NRHEG’s season.
“We lost to a tough-hitting team,” said NRHEG coach Onika Peterson, whose team finished with a record of 15-16 overall, 2-5 in the Gopher Conference.
According to Peterson, the Panthers played some of their best volleyball of the season in the first game.
“We couldn’t have played much better,” she said. “We did all the little things well and looking to be firing on all cylinders with our passing, hitting and blocking.”
But they couldn’t sustain it.
“Byron had a couple extremely tough hitters and we were unable to stop them,” said Peterson. “Our girls battled the whole night, but sadly our season has come to an end. I am very proud of what we accomplished and how much the team grew throughout the season. Thank you to all the girls for an amazing year. Thanks to the seniors for their dedication to the Panther volleyball program.”
Individually vs. Byron: Sydney Schultz 10 digs; Anna Jacobson 4 kills, 1 dig; Katie Cliff 1 kill, 1 dig; Mia Farr 1 dig; Grace Tufte 20 assists, 11 digs; Kendall Johnson 2 kills, 7 digs, 1 ace serve; Sophie Stork 13 kills, 17 digs, 3 ace serves; Elli Baker 4 kills, 1 ace block; Summer Kath 2 assists; Hallie Schultz 2 assists; Bree Ihrke 1 ace block; Maddie DenHerder 2 kills; Cambria Nissen 5 digs.
Seniors on the team were Cliff, Farr, Kath, DenHerder and Madi Kormann.