Panthers beat Riders

ST. MARYS - Parkway turned in a lethargic first set, but once the Panthers flipped the switch, there was no stopping them.

After an opening set loss, Parkway ran off three straight wins to defeat St. Marys 22-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-20 in a Grand Lake area volleyball match at Grand Lake Health System Court on Monday.

"Towards the end of the first set, we went on a little bit of a run and I think it helped the confidence," Parkway coach Jordan Henkle said. "We just didn't come out with a lot of energy, playing as individuals instead of a team. It was a little rough going there for a while, but I think some things got a little more consistent, a little more confident on our side."

St. Marys (6-13) got out to big leads to open each of the first two sets, but in the second set the Panthers battled back. With Parkway trailing 5-1, Gabrielle Stober sandwiched a pair of kills around a pair of blocks, the second assisted by Emiree Knittle, to tie the set at 5. The Roughriders opened up an 11-8 lead, but Parkway (13-5) won the next three points to immediately tie it back up and took the lead at 14-13.

After St. Marys tied the set at 18, Knittle gave them three points to pull away. With the Panthers leading 20-18, Parkway's Faith Jacobs got a kill on the left side and Brynn Clark went down at the net, the second Roughrider hurt on the night.

Without Clark, St. Marys was forced to alter its rotations and to play the rest of the match without its leading blocker, as sophomores Brynn Knapke and Kaylee Clausing stepped in to pick up the slack.

"We played well, considering we had to throw a couple lineups in there that we haven't practiced a whole lot," St. Marys coach Caley Yoder said. "Overall, I'm pleased with the girls. I don't feel like they ever gave up."

The Roughriders cut the deficit to 22-20, but the Panthers pulled away again and Macy Johnson finished off the Panthers' first win with a kill through St. Marys' block.

Parkway's turnaround started late in the first set, after the Roughriders turned a 7-1 start into a seven-point lead. With Parkway trailing 22-15, Johnson got a kill and Faith Jacobs rattled off a six-point service run, including another kill and a block from Johnson, cutting the deficit to 22-21 before Jacobs' last serve went into the net.

Halle Huston got a kill to give St. Marys set point, Johnson got another kill to stave off defeat, and Huston spiked the ball to the right side to finish the set.

"We were really taking care of the ball in serve receive, and when we run a good service receive, our offense works really well," Yoder said. "We're able to have three hitting options and run what we want to run. So I was happy with serve receive tonight, even into the fourth set."

With the match tied, the beginning of the third set was a dogfight. There were eight ties and six lead changes in the first 16 points before Johnson put together a short service run to give Parkway an 11-8 lead. St. Marys cut the deficit to one before another short run put the Panthers up 18-13, and the Roughriders never recovered.

Parkway scored the final five points of the set, with a Temple serve ricocheting straight back into the student section to end it.

"We didn't have a lot of consistency on our side to be able to string a lot together throughout the night," Henkle said. "Made for some long sets."

After St. Marys took a 2-1 lead in the fourth, the Panthers got a five-point run from Stephenson and never trailed again. The Roughriders cut the deficit to one at 14-13, then committed four straight hitting errors as Parkway pulled away.

Stephenson put together another four-point run, aided by a pair of St. Marys receiving errors and another hitting error, before Jacobs fired a spike down the left line to get the Panthers to match point and posted a block on the left side to end it.

"A lot of it can be unfamiliarity, a lot could be the unexpected responsibilities you put on a player, especially a crucial point like game four in a match," Yoder said of the late errors. "But they just have to keep playing."

Stober finished with a match-high 14 kills, while Stephenson added 26 assists and Temple earned 11 digs. Syerra Greber led the Roughriders with nine kills and Lily Rammel chipped in 15 assists.

Parkway will look to carry its momentum into a Midwest Athletic Conference match with Coldwater on Thursday, while St. Marys takes on Elida in Western Buckeye League play.