Pekin volleyball team knocked out of postseason play

BY ANDY HALLMAN

Golden Triangle News Service

MEDIAPOLIS ? Pekin?s Cinderella run in the volleyball postseason came to an end Thursday when the Panthers ran into the Mediapolis Bulldogs in the Class 2A regional semifinal.

The Bulldogs brought a stout 31-7 record into the match against Pekin?s 12-17 mark. Mediapolis was too much for the Panthers to handle as the Bulldogs rolled to a three-set victory with scores of 25-10, 25-15 and 25-7.

Maci Gambell had 14 digs and five kills for the Panthers, along with a serving ace. Haley Gambell collected six assists and three kills to go with nine digs. Whitney Johnson contributed 15 digs. Kennedy Coleman pitched in with six assists. Faith Oostra had three kills and a solo block.

?We knew Mepo would be a tough obstacle to overcome,? said Pekin head coach Ken Hutchinson. ?However, we felt that if we could pass off their serve, then we would compete on the night.?

Hutchinson said one of his team?s weak points is receiving serves, and Mediapolis has a squad of very strong servers.

?We started the first set in a 9-0 hole because of serve-receive,? he lamented. ?We just couldn?t pass their serve in an area that would allow us to run offense.?

Pekin did a much better job of receiving the Bulldogs? serves in the second set.

?The first half of the second set was anyone?s game,? said Hutchinson, remarking about how the teams traded one kill after another. Near the halfway mark, Mediapolis took control and carried that momentum into the final set.

?They started the third set with solid serving and again we struggled to pass,? said the coach.

The Panthers say goodbye to four seniors: Gabi Rutherford, Hazel Ward, Aspen Clark and Kaitlyn Conger. Clark played in 39 sets this year and amassed a good percentage from the service line where she went 63-70 with five aces. She also contributed 20 assists. Rutherford played in 22 sets, and went 13-15 from the service line.

Ward played in 61 sets where she picked up four kills, 90 digs and six assists with a serving mark of 14-17. Conger played in all 79 sets this year. She was fourth on the team in blocks with 23 and fourth in kills with 69.