Lady Panthers flat in home finale against King William

Charles City's Keanna Motley fully extends her body in a diving effort to keep the ball in play.

Andre' Jones photo

A sluggish start coupled by an overpowering opponent was too much for Charles City’s Lady Panthers to overcome during an Oct. 25 evening volleyball matchup.

Overwhelmed by visiting King William’s movement and aggressive nature, the host Lady Panthers fell 25-5, 25-11, 25-10 in their home season finale.

From the onset, the visiting Lady Cavaliers went full throttle, jumping out 10-2 before disposing the hosts in set one. Set two fared no better as the hosts fell into an 8-1 hole before slicing the deficit in half (10-5). But that would be the closest Charles City would get for the remainder of the frame as King William reeled off an 11-2 scoring spree to claim set two.

Charles City finally came to life in the third set. Services by Keanna Motley and frontline play from Kylee Brinkley helped the hosts battle with the visitors and deadlock the score at 7 apiece. But King William withstood all attacks from the hosts, putting together seven consecutive scores to bring the contest to a close.

After the match, Lady Panther head coach Jessica Hornsby said figuring out the early effort has become a complex situation for her team.

“I’m really out of reasons for our slow starts,” said the perplexed head coach. “I think they were intimidated by King William and their activity moving around on the court.

“These girls have to realize that it is an active choice they have to make to be the aggressive,” Hornsby added. “King William is talented but so are my Lady Panthers.”

For now, the Lady Panthers will transition from regular season play to Conference 42 postseason play.

“For me tonight, let this be the reason we get things fixed,” she said, mentioning an expected rematch against West Point. “We will work hard to get in the right state of mind as many of these Lady Panthers just finished their career at home.”

Charles City, a team thats list nine seniors on its roster, falls to 5-13 on the year.