Prairie City volleyball coach Jordan Bass strategizes with her team during a timeout in their home state playoff matchup with Sherman on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. 

PRAIRIE CITY — The Prairie City volleyball team was down three starters for their home matchup with the Sherman Lady Huskies in the opening round of the OSAA Class 2A state volleyball tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

But that did little to affect the outcome of the match as the Lady Panthers defeated Sherman 3-1 in front of an energized home crowd to advance to the second round of the state tournament.

All four games in the match were filled with scoring runs and rallies as both teams looked to extend their respective seasons for at least a couple more days. Game scores for the match were 25-17, 25-23, 19-25 and 25-19.

The first game of the match saw the Lady Panthers fall behind early only to regroup and take a 9-5 lead, forcing a Sherman timeout. Sherman would score five unanswered points following the timeout to take a brief 10-9 lead.

But the Lady Panthers would regroup again, going on a 9-3 scoring run to pull ahead 18-13, forcing the Lady Huskies to burn another timeout. The Prairie City girls would ultimately close out Game 1, winning the contest 25-17.

The second game started much like the first with the Lady Panthers jumping out to an early lead only to have the Lady Huskies rally and tie the game at 11. Prairie City would score four unanswered points following the tie before Sherman went on their own run to take a 17-15 lead and force a Lady Panther timeout.

The Lady Huskies would lead by as many as three points in the late stages of the second game only to have the Lady Panthers again claw their way back into the contest and force a Sherman timeout after tying the game at 20. The teams would trade scores following that timeout before the Lady Panthers scored the final two points of the game to win 25-23 and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

Facing the end of their season, the Lady Huskies jumped out to an early 10-4 lead in the third game, which led to Prairie City needing to spend a timeout in an attempt to halt the early Sherman run. Prairie City would outscore Sherman 10-3 following the timeout to take a brief 14-13 lead.

Sherman would be persistent, however, retaking the lead and pushing their advantage to 22-18 to force another Lady Panther timeout. The timeout did little to change the dynamic of the third game as the Lady Huskies went on to win 25-19 to set up an all-important fourth game.

Game 4 was again a game of runs and rallies as the Lady Panthers again built an early lead only to have Sherman fight their way back into the game and tie the score at 6-all. A 13-7 scoring blitz following the tie gave the Lady Panthers a 19-13 lead and forced a Sherman timeout with their season on the line.

This time, it was Prairie City that was unfazed by the attempt to stifle their momentum. The Lady Panthers were able to maintain their six-point advantage through to the end of the game and close out the Lady Huskies 25-19, prompting the Panther student section to storm the court to celebrate the opening-round win with the team.

Prairie City seniors Kat Ashley and Laken McKay spoke about the energy of the crowd and playing their last volleyball game in front of the Prairie City fans. Both Ashley and McKay said it “felt great” to have the final home game of their high school volleyball careers end in a win.

The energy of the home crowd for this game is something that stood out to Ashley, who noted that the environment for this game was different than anything she’d experienced in the years prior.

“I have to say that the last four years have definitely not leveled up to what the energy was tonight. We had the football boys, we had the community and we had everybody here supporting us and cheering us on, and I think that’s a huge part of trying to work as a team is having that support behind you,” she said.

McKay agreed, saying that the fans have never been as “jacked” as they were on Wednesday night. When asked if the crowd helped propel the team to their first round win, both responded with a resounding “yes.”

Prairie City head coach Jordan Bass said she felt “super proud” of her young team’s effort. “They all came together, they all did their jobs. That was some of the best defense that I’ve seen from most of our team all year, so that was really exciting to see them do that at a really critical moment,” Bass said.

Bass also spoke about the raucous home crowd at the game, echoing what her seniors had said about the crowd previously. When asked if the home crowd’s energy helped propel her team to victory, Bass responded, “Definitely.”

“Volleyball is huge game about energy, so when they have their home crowd, it can make a difference for sure,” Bass said.

There were hopes that the Lady Panthers could host one more state playoff match, but those hopes were dashed when seventh-seeded North Douglas emerged victorious in their matchup. The North Douglas win means the Lady Panthers will be traveling to Drain for their second-round matchup.

Like all great coaches do, Bass held her cards close to her vest when asked just how far this group of kids could go in the state tournament this year. “I like to just focus on the next job, and our next job is taking care of North Douglas on Saturday. They’re strong, so if our girls can show up and play their best game, anything can happen.”

Prairie City’s second round matchup with North Douglas is scheduled for a 5 p.m. tipoff.