Lady Panthers evens record with sweep of John Marshall

Charles City's Derequa Johnson gets position to bump the ball and keep it in play.

Robb Johnson photo

A team’s maturity and handling of situations are potential factors that can determine wins or losses. For Charles City’s Lady Panthers’ volleyball team, that maturity helped even their record after the Sept. 11 contest.

Capitalizing off errors and miscues by the visiting John Marshall Lady Justices, Charles City cruised to a 25-12, 25-9, 25-8 sweep in the contest.

After a slow start in the first set and leading only by one (8-7), John Marshall’s service error opened the door for the Lady Panthers. From there, it was Charles City’s Derequa Johnson who took over serving duties for the hosts, helping lead to five points including two errors to propel the hosts from 15-8 advantage. Throw in a pair of aces from Kaylee Stewart, a spike and score by Aalaya King, and two more aces from Marissa Jackson, Charles City rallied off more points as part of a 13-2 run to close the first set out.

In the second set, John Marshall continued to make errors with the hosts taking advantage of them. Madison Maguire strung together for aces for the Lady Panthers, while Endya Johnson’s kill kept the visitors in check. An ace by Charles City’s Cheyenne Christian closed the second frame. Charles City jumped out 9-1 in the third set before coasting the rest of the way to victory.

After the contest, Charles City Lady Panthers Head Coach Lillani Adkins spoke about the team’s improvement since the beginning of the season.

“I am proud of them, and they are learning to communicate better,” she said. “They will be fine as we get further into the season, and I believe in this team and what they can do.”

Charles City evens their record at 3-3.