photo by Mike Simmons

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva’s Jenna Brekke and Anna Schlaak combine for one of many Panther blocks in their 3-0 win Tuesday night against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton.

Panthers still perfect in conference

Staff

Published Wednesday, September 17, 2008

NEW RICHLAND — The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva volleyball team proved once again Tuesday night that if a team doesn’t beat itself, it usually has a very good chance to win.

The Panthers were just shy of perfect at the service line nailing 72 of 73 serves in their 3-0 Gopher Conference win against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton in New Richland. With the 25-22, 25-20, 25-14 victory NRHEG improved to 5-1 overall in match play this season and 4-1 in the conference, good for third place.

“It felt really good tonight, we started out kind of slow but were able to come away with the win,” said Panthers head coach Nicole Kuhns. “The girls were able to keep their composure tonight when they fell behind and just played to make the other team make mistakes and beat themselves.”

This is a veteran dominated squad that takes the floor every night for the Panthers as they have eight seniors at their disposal. It was that experience that let NRHEG recover from a 21-18 deficit in game one for a come from behind 25-22 win.

Although this Panther team is full of veteran leadership it was the exceptional play of freshman middle hitter Anna Schlaak who helped them take the match, along with junior Alyssa Hagen, the two dominated every play at the net. Schlaak led all players with 17 kills while Hagen added eight on the night.

In game two the Panthers let a 12-6 lead slip away and held onto a narrow 22-20 advantage before Hagen launched a rocket down the line for the 25-20 win. Hagen had four of her eight kills in the second game but it proved to be the defense that turned two close wins into a 25-14 rout in game three.

“It’s huge to take this match in three,” Kuhns said. “It’s a big confidence booster for us going into Thursday night that we finished game three with a statement.”

The Panthers finished the night with an incredible six different players with more than 10 digs. Chelsey Waltz (22), Kelsey Christensen (19), Emily Dahle (15), Bryanna Anthony (15), Schlaak (12), and Jenna Brekke (10) contributed to a dominating defensive effort. Brekke also dished out a team high 20 assists.

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