Lady Panthers will improve before tournament

ALBERTON – The Alberton Lady Panthers faced two defeats this week when they faced off against the St. Regis Lady Tigers and the Lincoln Lady Lynx.

In the game against St. Regis, county pride was on the line as the two Mineral County teams played on home turf. Though they struggled at first, the Lady Panthers pulled back in the third set and were only defeated by five points.

“[The varsity team] came together well and almost pulled out a win [in] the third game,” said Head Coach Hannah Anderson.

The team had a rough start with some initial problems working as a team, which led to lost points. By the third set, however, they were able to recover and make the game much closer, making it the best set of the game for the Lady Panthers.

Anderson praised Senior Rebecca Braae for her great digs and said Senior Ryan Vicek played well, holding the team together throughout the game. In the third set, Junior Alyssa Sandstrom and Sophomore Deveyn Dutt, from the junior varsity team, were put in to play; something that Anderson said really helped with the varsity team’s comeback.

The game against Lincoln was close. During the first set the scores were often tied with neither team gaining a significant lead until Alberton pulled ahead and claimed the set by seven points.

Lincoln came back strong in the second set, claiming the early lead and winning the next three sets by seven, ten and eight points respectively. The game was still close with both teams keeping within one or two points of the other. Only at the end would one team pull ahead to win the set.

Anderson said she was proud of all the girls that played and that, while the last three sets were “a struggle,” the Lady Panthers really came together as a team.

Once again, Vicek really stood out with her performance against Lincoln. Throughout the game she was all over the court and made several good plays. Her serves were amazing and seemed to go exactly where she wanted them to, gaining Alberton several points. According to Anderson, she had “fantastic serves [and] aces.”

During the fourth set, Vicek made an amazing save by running off the court and knocking the ball back to Lincoln after it rebounded off the top of the net and started to go out of bounds.

Also notable was Junior Olivia Taylen. Taylen spent most of the game guarding the net and made great saves, often forcing the Lady Lynx to rush to recover the ball.

“She was very aggressive and had some great kills,” said Anderson.

The Lady Panthers faced the Darby Lady Tigers on Tuesday, October 22, during Senior Night. Scores for that game were unavailable at the time of press. Leading up to the match, Anderson worked on improving the Lady Panther’s teamwork during a game and was looking forward to playing against Darby.

“I am excited for our seniors to take the court together,” she said.

Alberton’s final game of the season, before the regional conference, will be held on Saturday, October 26, at Drummond against the Lady Trojans.