Panters Outlast Ely, Win In 5 Sets

Click here for the complete game box score

Oct 11, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

The South Ridge Panthers continued to play extremely well this fall as the Panthers knocked off a strong Ely Timberwolves team in 5 games at Ely High School. The win was the fourth straight victory for the Panthers and it was the 11 victory in the last 12 matches for the Panthers.

The Panthers opened up Thursday night with a victory in the first two matches. The Panthers won the first game of the match 25-18, and the second 25-23 as the Panthers took a two games to none lead.

The Timberwolves battled back in third game of the match as they won 25-21 to cut the Panthers lead to 2-1. The Timberwolves, with the momentum continued to roll as they evened the match with a 25-17 victory.

As both team entered the fifth game of the match it was the Panthers who re-grouped and came away with the 15-11 win to beat the Timberwolves for the second time this season. The Panther defeated the Timberwolves in the in the Bigfork Tournament last Saturday.

Callie Thomason finished with 31 set assists; she also had 2 ace servers Thursday. Justice Janke had a fabulous night registering 23 kills, 10 digs and 1 block, while Mallory Thibault finished with 9 kills and 2 ace serves for South Ridge. Mikayla Olesiak had 6 kills, 17 digs, and 3 ace serves, while Lindsey Janke had 10 digs for the Panthers.

With the victory Thursday, the Panthers move to 15-4 overall on the season. The Panthers will close out their regular season Monday when they play at Wrenshall and on Tuesday they finish at home against the Proctor Rails.

The Timberwolves fall to 9-15 overall on the season and they will play at Mountain Iron on Monday when the will face the Rangers of Mountain Iron-Buhl. The Timberwolves fall to 8-10 in section play while the Panthers are now 14-4 in sectional play.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com