Panthers Win to Close Season at 7-13.

Whitman-Hanson hosted the Bridgewater-Raynham Trojans for the Panthers Senior Night. The Panthers were able to pull out a 3-2 win to bring their record for the season to 7-13. The game scores were 25-17, 18-25, 20-25, 25-19 and 15-4. The Whitman-Hanson seniors led the way in the first set taking the win 25-17. Sarah Mossman played strong out of position at Outside Hitter where she earned a good kill and served smart which allowed the Panthers to string together a run of points. Also playing well in the first set was Ashlee Poirier who had a great night at the service line where she served 8 straight points and held the defense together with good passing. In the second set the Panthers fell apart a little bit and let the Trojans drive the ball around the court. Bad mistakes at the service line and hitting helped the Trojans pull out a 14-25 win over the Panthers. In the third set Whitman-Hanson continued making mistakes and allowed the Bridgewater-Raynham hitters to gain confidence which the used to hit harder at the Panther defense. Despite strong play from Co-Captain Abby Benvie and senior Alyssa Andrews the Panthers couldn't pull themselves together to get a win in the third set. Pushed against the wall on Senior night the Panthers tried to come out strong in the fourth set but quickly found themselves down 8-1. The Panthers refused to hang their heads and rallied around each other promising to play hard for the seniors. After a few back and forth points the Panthers found themselves slowly climbing back into the match. Then Ashlee Poirier stepped to the service line and served 10 straight points earning 3 aces and forcing Bridgewater-Raynham into several more errors. Whitman-Hanson closed out the set with strong play from Junior Erin Clifford and another good hit from Ashlee Poirier. In the fifth and deciding set Whitman-Hanson jumped out fast with good serving from Erin Doherty and a couple of smart plays in the middle by Samantha Doyle. Abby Benvie closed out the third set with 12 straight serves. Erin Clifford put the exclamation point on the win by slamming home an overpass from Bridgewater-Raynham for a kill and the last point of the match. Playing well tonight for Whitman-Hanson were Erin Clifford with 8 kills, Abby Benvie with 19 successful serves, including 12 straight points; Ashlee Poirier who served 9 in a row and played great defense to allow the Panthers to string points together that saved the fourth set win and Erin Doherty who had 12 assists. Whitman-Hanson volleyball says goodbye to Seniors Alyssa Andrews, Abby Benvie, Erin Doherty, Samantha Doyle, Sarah Mossman, Ashlee Poirier, Erin Slayton and Abby Trapp.