Panther spikers (15-2) down Mackay in five
Saturday wake-up call
Morning isn?t the best time for coach Kathy Whitworth?s Carey School volleyball team.
The highly-regarded Panthers started Saturday?s non-conference match at Mackay about 11 a.m. and quickly found themselves on the short end of a two-game deficit.
Whitworth told her team, typical teenagers, ?You better wake up, it?s afternoon now.?
Carey woke up and rallied for a marathon 22-25, 23-25, 25-12, 25-22, 15-12 victory over the Miners. ?We started putting more power behind our hits, and we only missed two or three serves the whole five games,? said Whitworth.
Leading the way at the serving stripe was junior RayAnne Hennefer, who seemed to pick up four or five points on each of her trips. Jessica Royal also served well for the Panthers.
Hennefer added 15 assists, while the top hitters were Whitney Peck (9 kills), Royal (6 kills) and Brenna Silva (5 kills).
?They were good games and it was tough for us, since it was Mackay?s last home game and they were jacked. And it was a long match, lasting about two-and-a-half hours. But it was good to come back and win the last three,? the coach said.
Whitworth said the improvement in Carey?s serving at Mackay was a good sign of concentration, with the post-season tournaments ahead.
Carey (15-2 overall) has also won most of its matches in just three games, so Saturday?s win at Mackay was the first time the Panthers have gone the distance and come out on top.
Thursday, the Panthers tried some different rotations and posted a quick 25-10, 25-8, 25-16 Northside Conference win at Bliss. Amy Olsen and Whitney Peck each had 10 kills.
Last Tuesday, Carey won at home over Camas County 25-16, 25-22, 26-24. Hennefer (10 assists), Whitney Peck (7 kills) and Amy Olsen (6 kills, 3 aces) led the Panthers. Other contributors were Jessica Royal (5 kills, 4 assists), Melissa Peck (5 kills) and Silva (6 kills).
Carey (8-1 road, 8-1 league) visited Richfield Tuesday, then stages its ?Senior Night,? Tuesday, Oct. 12 during its home finale against the Dietrich Blue Devils. Saluted next Tuesday will be seniors Brooke McAfee, Melissa Peck and Shannon Roesbery.
