New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 29, 2024

Inexperience evident as Lady Panthers drop home opener

By Andre Jones | September 14, 2017 7:52 pm

Charles City’s Jaelah Wyatt positions herself underneath the ball to provide a pass for a teammate.

Andre' Jones photo

With the departure of ten players from last year’s team due to graduation and transfers, Charles City’s Lady Panthers volleyball head coach Racene Otey knows the rebuilding process will take some time. A first look at her team in a home environment provided some insight on the team’s future outlook.

Charles City fell 13-25, 15-25, 14-25 in straight sets to King & Queen during the Sept. 14 Tidewater District matchup.

After exchanging scores early on in the contest, the Lady Tigers rallied behind four consecutive aces from Alexis Lotty to take a 10-4 lead. Charles City maintained pace in part of Kourtney Wyatt’s back to back aces (16-11), but the visitors closed out the set on a 9-2 run to claim the opening set. Set two yielded no additional favors as the Lady Panthers fell into a 11-1 hole before dropping it to the visitors.

Charles City’s best offensive spurt began in the third frame. The hosts took a 9-5 lead after Adrianna Steele’s back-to-back aces. However, King & Queen rebounded as Breyona Harvey led a four-point spurt to tie the score. Tied at 13-13, Lady Tiger Justini Lewis’ services accounted for the next seven points and provided a margin too big for the hosts to overcome.

After the contest, Otey commented about the team and how it’s a work in progress.

“We’re inexperienced. That’s the whole thing,” she said, speaking on her team that consists of seven players with four of them returning. “We’re almost starting from scratch.

“But this bunch listens and is learning the new concepts,” Otey added. “Right now, our focus is getting them to understand the difference of how a practice functions and a game functions.”

Charles City drops to 0-2 for the season.