The Panther volleyball team kicked off the 2014 season in high fashion with three -straight wins at home this past week.

On Monday, the Panthers hosted Providence Christian, winning 3-0 in a best of five format as the Panther attack overwhelmed the visiting Warriors offensively and defensively. In the game, the Panthers were led by junior Callie Barnes, who was the leader of a devastating serve attack by the Panthers. Overall, it was a good game to start the season and to get back in the flow from their successful 2013 campaign. 

On Tuesday, the Panthers took on a strong New Creation Christian team that they had great battles with last year. It did not disappoint the fans as the teams fought hard and had some tremendous volleys during the entire match.

The Panthers did prevail, as eighth grader Maxie Maddox took over, and again, led a serving onslaught to wear the visiting Crusaders down. Maxie was also a strong force on the net and showed why she is one of the best spikers on the squad. Maxie and her teammates took down New Creation 3-0.

On Thursday, the Panthers took on perennial powerhouse Creekside out of McDonough. Unlike earlier in the week, the Panthers came out flat and looked overmatched in the first game, dropping a 25-17 decision. But as they have shown many times under the careful eye of head coach Lisa Marie Peterson, the team collected itself and showed why it will be one of the teams to beat in the GICAA this year.

Coach Peterson’s squad took the floor and proceeded to dismantle the strong Creekside team in three straight games, taking the match 3-1. By the fourth game, the momentum had swung so far to the Panthers, that they scored the first seven points in the clinching game. The win extended the Panther’s unbeaten streak to three games to start the season.

To round out the volleyball success during the first week, the Middle School squad, led by head coach Karen White, went 2-0 with convincing wins over Providence and Creekside. The JV Panthers completed the week 2-1 with wins against Providence and New Creation and the lone loss to Creekside. Play by Nikki Blake and Rylee Smith highlighted the play for the JV squad.

Next week, the Panthers travel to New Creation on Monday, for a rematch of last week’s game and then travel to Community Christian on Tuesday.