The Panthers started, and finished, strong in a 25-17, 25-19, 26-28, 25-11 Camden Conference win over Yellow Medicine East in Granite Falls on Tuesday.
The Panthers opened the first set with a 5-0 run with Alli Dolan at the service line. Later, Braelynn Kirk socked down three straight kills for a 20-15 lead, and TMB finished things out with a kill and ace serve by Kirk, who had arguably her best match of the season.
TMB was strong again in the second set, opened up an 18-14 cushion. A TMB block put the Panthers two points from taking the set, and a Panther tip and YME hitting error ended the set.
Set 3 was a tight one all the way, and the two teams were tied at 17 after a TMB hitting error.
The set was also tied at 23, 25 and 26, but TMB (9-19) committed two late errors to give the set to the Sting.
The Panthers took a 7-6 lead in Set 4 and turned it into a 22-7 margin with continued strong net play, both offensively and defensive. An ace tip by Bella Martinez made it 23-8, and ace by Kirk and ace tip from Melaina Ankrum helped the Panthers overcome a couple of late hitting errors to earn the victory.
