Charles City Lady Panthers pounce on Surry for season opening volleyball win

Charles City's Endya Johnson (left), Kayla Davis-Moore (right), and Madison Bradby (12) all make an effort to keep the ball in play.

A new school year means a fresh new start in athletic competition for Charles City’s Lady Panthers. And with several players returning from last year’s volleyball squad, it didn’t take long for the group to regain their chemistry. But more importantly, have a connection that influenced a positive outcome.

After dropping the opening set, Charles City’s Lady Panthers triumphed over the visiting Surry Lady Cougars 20-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-9 to christen the start of the 2024 season.

Early on, the visiting Lady Cougars took advantage of the hosts, able to find open spots in the floor for scores. And by the time Charles City rallied to cut the lead down to four, Surry sealed the opening set with a win, courtesy of a serve from Zariah Harrell.

But Charles City began to lock in after a technical error put the hosts behind. The Lady Panthers were able to pick their spots on the floor, with the tandem of Jaela Smith and Taniyah Williams making key plays at the net.

And then, it was junior Endya Johnson who took firm command of the set. Johnson served seven consecutive points to stretch out the lead. And even after her serve was broken, teammate Cheyenne Christian picked up the slack, concluding a 13-1 run to finish set two.

Sets three and four saw Johnson and Christian’s onslaught of serves continue to stifle Surry. With match point on the line, Lady Panther newcomer Nina Cannada’s serve resulted in the visitors hitting the ball against the net, resulting in the season opening win for the hosts.

After the contest, Charles City Lady Panther Head Coach Lillani Adkins spoke about her team’s improvement from last year.

“You can tell from day one that they were ready to go,” Adkins commented. “This time last year, I was teaching fundamentals to this group and just doing the basics.

“But the vibe was different this year and they feel connected,” the head coach continued. “This group of girls are teammates in so many other sports that it carries over. You can tell this group from these veterans playing at varsity to our first junior varsity team in decades have something going for them.

“The biggest thing we must do is continue to communicate,” Adkins added as she wrapped up her comments. “Right now, our biggest strength is that they recover for each other. But now we must continue to talk and that is something I’ve been emphasizing all summer.”

Charles City opens the season 1-0.