Panthers defeat Plymouth South 3-0

Whitman-Hanson travelled to Plymouth South and earned the win to punch their ticket for the tournament 3-0. The game scores were 25-20, 25-14 and 25-18. Whitman-Hanson got off to a rocky start in the first start and allowed Plymouth South to hang around in the set by committing too many errors. The story of the set and the match was the strong serving of the Whitman-Hanson players. In the first set Jordyn Keith stepped to the service line down by 3 at 17-20 but thanks to her serving and several aces Whitman-Hanson earned the win 25-20. In sets two and three Whitman-Hanson was in control from the beginning and despite strong play by Plymouth South were able to secure victories in both set. In set 2 Keith again served to a lead and in the 3rd set Giuliana Ruscazio led the way from the service line. Playing well for the Panthers tonight was Jordyn Keith with 10 aces and 21 serve receives; Tori Perry with 19 aces and Halle Julian with 9 kills. The Panthers move to 11-10 on the season and wait to hear who they will face in the tournament.

Panthers earn the win on Senior Night

Whitman-Hanson hosted the Silver Lake Lakers and earned the 3-1 victory on the Panthers senior night! Game scores were 19-25, 26-24, 25-12 and 25-13. In the first set the Panthers struggled to get focused for the game with the excitement of senior night. Their sloppy play all around gave Silver Lake a relatively easy victory in the set. In the second set the Panthers began with a continuation of their sloppy play from the first set but quickly pulled themselves together and pushed the set to 23-23 tie with the Panthers serving. The Panthers got to game point with a strong kill by Sophie O'Brien and earned the set victory on a hit out of bounds by Silver Lake. In the 3rd and 4th sets the Panthers carried their momentum forward and controlled each set from the beginning. The Panthers got out to early leads in each set and never really looked back. The Panthers earned the set and match victory on a perfect ace serve by O'Brien. Players that led the way for the Panthers were Jess Nihan who had one of her strongest games of the season with 2 aces and 2 blocks but the stats don't tell the whole story. Her serving helped the Panthers keep the Lakers out of their offense in the 4th set. Also playing well for the Panthers was O'Brien who led the team with 15 kills, 3 blocks and 2 aces; Tori Perry with 24 assists and 4 aces; and Halle Julian with 8 kills and 4 blocks. The Panthers are now 10-8 on the season and travel to Duxbury on Friday.

Panthers defeat Plymouth North 3-0

Whitman-Hanson was hosted by Plymouth North and both teams played well but the Panthers were able to come away with the victory 3-0. The game scores were 25-19, 25-23 and 26-24. The Panthers were able to play well enough in the first set to win despite lots of sloppy play in their passing game. Once again it was the Panthers serving that kept them in the set and allowed them to earn the first set victory 3 Panther kills in a row by Amanda Anderson, Jess Nihan and Sophie O'Brien. In the second set the Panthers let the Plymouth North Eagles jump out to an early lead that ultimately led to the Panthers looking at the wrong end of a 10-20 score. However, at that point the Panthers began to rally back and thanks to savage plays by Halle Julian at the net the Panthers were able to pull even at 23-23. On the next play Julian blocked an Eagle attack and the Panthers we able to earn set point after an error by Plymouth North. In the third set both teams rallied back and forth for much of the set but thanks again to great play by Julian and strong serving by Giulia Ruscazio. In the end the Panthers were able to seal the set and match victory on a kill by Jess Nihan. The Panthers move to 9-8 on the season and host Silver Lake on Wednesday for the Panthers Senior Night.

Panthers defeat Hanover 3-0

The Whitman-Hanson Panthers hosted Hanover tonight and secured a 3-0 victory. The game scores were 25-20, 25-15 and 25-22. The Panthers were led tonight by their middles, Sophie O'Brien and Halle Julian who pushed the Panthers out to leads in each of the three sets. O'Brien pushed the Panthers in the first set with her strong play at the net while Julian finished the match by earning several key kills and blocks. Both players served well for the Panthers with Julian earning her first ace of the season and O'Brien adding 7 of her own. Amanda Anderson also led the Panthers from the service line securing 6 aces. In the third and deciding set the Panthers struggled with nerves and had some difficulties in serve receive however the players were able to overcome all of that to earn a solid victory in the set to secure the match victory. Leading the way for the Panthers were Julian with 10 kills; O'Brien with 8 kills and 7 aces; and Tori Perry with 16 assists. The Panthers move to 7-7 and host Rockland on Thursday.

Panthers lose a tough one against Quincy

Whitman-Hanson hosted Quincy tonight and played a great match but was unable to secure a victory losing 3-0 to the Presidents. In the first set the Panthers were led by strong serving from Jordyn Keith and Sophie O'Brien at the net. The Quincy attack was on point in the set and helped the Presidents pull out to 16-20 lead. The Panthers rallied back with strong defensive play and smart plays at the net. Amanda Anderson helped the Panthers pull ahead with strong serving to push the game to 24-22. Quincy was able to rally back to push the game to 26-26. The Panthers weren't able to capitalize on their opportunities to seal the victory and were held back by factors outside of either teams control that allowed Quincy to earn the first set victory. In the second set the Panthers fell behind early but put together a solid rally to climb back within 2 points at 11-13. Quincy then pulled ahead again and as a result of sloppy passing by the Panthers never really looked back earning the set victory at 25-21. In the third and final set the Panthers got out to an early lead thanks to O'Brien and some hitting errors by the Presidents. Tough serves by the Presidents pulled them back into the set and closed the Panther lead to 15-12. The teams played back and forth for the rest of the match with each team going on small runs of points. The Panthers got to match point at 24-21 and earned the set victory on a net violation by a Presidents. However, the point and set win was called off by one of the officials who challenged the call of the other game official. The Panthers were put off their game by having the set victory taken away from them and struggled to get back to their game. The Presidents tough serves ultimately proved to be more than the Panthers could manage to end the match. The Presidents sealed the set and match win 26-24. Playing well for the Panthers were O'Brien with 9 kills and 5 blocks; Halle Julian with 7 kills and 7 blocks and Tori Perry with 18 assists. The Panthers fall to 6-7 on the season and prepare to host Hanover on Tuesday.

W-H earns swift victory against Scituate

Whitman-Hanson played at Scituate tonight and earned the straight set victory against the Sailors. The game scores were 25-13, 25-13 and 25-10. The Panthers played a solid game against a new volleyball program in the league and earned the victory with strong serving and smart play at the net. The Panthers were in control of the match from the very beginning and never looked back. The Panthers were led once again by their middles Halle Julian and Sophie O'Brien. Julian led the team with 11 kills and 4 blocks while O'Brien contributed 8 kills. Jordyn Keith once again ruled the night from the service line tallying another 6 aces in the match. The Panthers are now 6-6 on the season and prepare to host Quincy on Thursday night.

Panthers defeat Pembroke 3-2

The Whitman-Hanson Panthers hosted Pembroke and rallied to a 3-2 win. Game scores were 25-20, 20-25, 21-25, 25-18 and 17-15. Both teams played a great game and each point in the match was hard earned. The Panthers came out strong in the first set to grab an early lead and with strong play at the net by middles Halle Julian and Sophie O'Brien were able to earn the first set victory. In the second set the Panthers found themselves playing from behind as a result of their struggles in the passing game which allowed the Pembroke outside hitter to get into a rhythm that carried throughout the match. In the third and fourth sets both teams rallied back and forth with each team gaining the advantage at one point or another. Pembroke was able to take advantage of their tough serving to keep the Panthers out of their offense to earn the 4th set victory and force a 5th and deciding set. In the 5th set the Panthers got out to an early 8-1 lead in a race to 15 points. However, once the teams changed sides Pembroke was able to rally back and push the score to 14-14. Pembroke than pulled in front with strong play by the service line, but the Panthers pulled back even at 15-15 with a big block by Halle Julian. Whitman-Hanson served tough and got a free ball from Pembroke that led to a kill by Amanda Anderson. On the next play the Panthers were able to turn another free ball from Pembroke into a game winning kill by Halle Julian. Playing well for the Panthers tonight were middle hitters Halle Julian with 11 kills and 5 blocks and Sophie O'Brien with 10 kills and 4 blocks. Also, leading the way for the Panthers was setter Tori Perry with 29 assists and 2 aces and Jordyn Keith with 36 serve receives and 22 digs. This was a great game played by both teams and both teams should be proud of their play! Whitman-Hanson moves to 2-5 on the season and travels to Silver Lake on Monday.