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The MCS Lady Panthers Volleyball team ended their season Thursday against the Smithton Lady Cougars in the Cahokia Conference tournament. Despite an intense, impassioned effort by the Lady Panthers, Smithton was still able to edge MCS 21-16, 21-19 to win the match and end the Lady Panthers season.
The Lady Panthers finished the regular season with a 3-10 record. But that record doesn’t accurately reflect the team’s talent or how close the Lady Panthers were to having an 8-5 record or better. The Lady Panthers pushed a number of those losses to three games, losing many by a margin of three points or less. And the competition in the Cahokia Conference is very good with many of those schools loaded with players who play volleyball year round, not just in season.
The Cahokia Conference Tournament was held in the Red Bud Grade School gymnasium this year. And one has to wonder why? The Lady Panthers are accustomed to a smaller floor than most in their home gym, but the Red Bud floor left little room on the sides of the court for plays to be made. In addition, the gymnasium ceiling and lighting were lower than any school I had seen this year. In a sport where girls at the junior high level are getting bigger, stronger and more athletic the larger courts in the conference should be considered for tournament play.
The Lady Panthers began their tournament run with a victory over the Valmeyer Lady Pirates in two games to earn the last bracket spot in the tournament. Less than two hours later the Lady Panthers faced the SPPS Lady Falcons of Waterloo in the second round. The Lady Panthers fought valiantly and pushed the talented Lady Falcons to three games but lost the match placing them in the consolation side of the bracket where they met the Lady Cougars of Smithton and ended their tournament run and their season.
As an individual who has no personal stake or relationship to any of the athletes on the MCS Lady Panthers volleyball team, I would like to say what a joy it has been to watch this team play. It took this team several games before they got their first win of the season and as I mentioned earlier in this story, many of those were close games and that continued to be the pattern throughout the season. But despite the losses and the heartbreak of losing so many close games this team never quit. The relationship between Coach Missey and her team is a special one and she received a consistent effort from her team. The Lady Panthers may have been outplayed in some of their games but they were never out hustled. Congratulations to the Lady Panthers on the completion of a successful season.
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