Slow start plagues Lady Panthers, fall to King & Queen in straight sets

Charles City's Aysia Wallace balances herself to return the ball in the opening set.

Robb Johnson photo

As the season continues to press forward for the Charles City Lady Panthers’ volleyball team, opportunities to return to the win column continue to become available for the team. Unfortunately, those chances sometimes are tough to capitalize on. Such was the case during a Sept. 12 matchup against the visiting King & Queen Lady Tigers.

Slow starts in the first and third sets factored in the downfall for the Lady Panthers as King & Queen swept the hosts 25-5, 25-13, 25-15 in the Tidewater District affair.

In the opening stanza, Charles City trailed by two (6-4) early on before the wheels fell apart. The hosts had no answer for King & Queen’s Angel Jackson, who would serve for the next 17 points for the guests, including two aces in a runaway of the set.

The Lady Panthers best performance came in set two. A Kayla Luellen ace snuck by King & Queen’s front line to bring the hosts within two (12-10). The host trailed by that amount midway through the set (15-13) before another massive Lady Tigers run of 10 straight points to win it. From there, King & Queen opened up the third stage of the game with a 13-1 run before settling in with the sweep of the match.

After the contest, Lady Panthers head coach Vickie Williams talked about the inability of her team gelling on the floor.

“We had a lot of jitters, but these girls have played with each other before,” she said. “Prior to the game we discussed our strategies and what we are going to do.

“We need to talk and work on calling for the ball,” Williams continued, pointing out the lack of communication on the floor. “It’s still a learning process but we had a lot of surprises tonight. We do well when the crowd cheers for us, so I hope they continue to come out because it makes a difference.”

Charles City continues to search for win number one on the year, falling to 0-6.