Panther volleyball heats up ahead of regionals

By Andy Krutsinger, Mt. Pleasant News

NORTH LIBERTY ? The Mt. Pleasant volleyball team picked up a big win on Thursday to garner some momentum before their postseason run.

The Panthers battled against a tough Iowa City Liberty team in their closest match yet, winning the game in five sets.

Mt. Pleasant showed they were up to the task early, outlasting Liberty 27-25 in the first set. The Lightning bounced back in the second set to defeat the Panthers 25-14.

The third set went into extra-points, much like the first. The Panthers once again came away with the nail-biting win, taking this one 26-24. Liberty, however, flipped the script on Mt. Pleasant in the fourth set, taking it 26-24 and extending the game.

The fifth set was another back-and-forth matchup that wound up being the fourth set to go into extra points. When the dust settled, the Panthers pulled out the final point for a 16-14 victory and perhaps the toughest win of their season.

Leading up to Thursday?s showdown, Liberty had only played one SEC team since its expansion. The Lightning defeated eventual SEC champion Ft. Madison in five sets on Sept. 26.

Kalynn Batey had 18 kills in the win to lead the way for the Panthers. She also finished the game with 15 digs. Jackie Fraise had 15 kills to give the Panthers two hitters in double digits.

Sadie Carrasco had five kills on the day. Ashlee Menke had three kills and Dani Broeker, Maggie Cristoforo and Anni Liechty each had one.

Broeker led the team with 18 digs. Menke finished the day with 35 assists and 14 digs. Liechty had 11 digs in the win as well.

The Panthers had a big day blocking the ball. They finished with 25 total blocks, led by Cristoforo who had seven. Sadie Carrasco and Liechty each had six blocks. Fraise had four blocks and Menke finished with two.

Mt. Pleasant went 96-106 on the serve with 10 aces. Liechty was 23-23 with three aces to lead the way. Broeker and Fraise had three assists apiece and Batey had one.

That win moved the Panthers to 12-18 overall, leading to the first round of regionals, which takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m.

Mt. Pleasant swept Washington this season, sweeping them 25-21, 25-20 and 25-17 at home and picking up a road sweep 25-18, 25-15 and 25-13.