PANTHER WIN STREAK STANDS AT 5
Greg Dedrick
ccSCOOP Sports Editor
The Chatham Panthers volleyball team extended its win streak to five with three more victories last week. The Panthers opened up with a hard fought 3-2 victory over Maple Hill and followed that up with a 3-0 win over Hudson during the Panther Pride Day. Chatham followed that up with a revenge victory over Cairo-Durham, 3-2.
The first match up against Maple Hill was a hard fought battle as the teams traded wins back and forth until the fifth and final game when the Panthers came away with the victory. After falling behind 23-25 in the first match, Chatham fought back with a 25-19 win. Maple Hill came right back with a 26-24 win before the Panthers roared back 27-25 and 25-19 to capture the win. “Our team did a good job of never quitting,” said Panther coach Matt Torrey.
In the game against Hudson, the Panthers rolled 25-19, 25-11, and 27-25 over the young Bluehawks. “We get our seniors a lot of playing time,” said Torrey of his team during the Panther Pride Day. “Our passing and serves improved, but our setting was off,” he added. “The right combination will come, and we’ll be fine.”
After falling to Cairo-Durham 3-0 earlier this season, the Panthers got revenge with a home standing 3-2 win. After falling behind early, 20-25 and 15-26, the Panthers stormed back to take the third game 26-24. “Kevin Meyers served us into the lead in game three,” said Torrey. Chatham won the fourth more comfortably, 25-20, to force game five, which they won 25-17. “I’m happy with our overall play tonight. We’re improving all the time,” said Torrey.
The Panthers got a number of strong performances during the three-game stretch, but some players stood out. Both Meyers and Connor Cockroft were the big-time servers for Chatham, while the pair along with Adam Scaglione were dominant forces at the nets with their kills. As they have all season long, Wade Klinger and Josh Kohrs racked up plenty of assists over the last three wins.
Chatham ran its record to 8-3 overall after starting off 3-3. In the Patroon Conference, the Panthers now stand at 4-3. The Panthers get right back into action with three games this week, starting Monday at Taconic Hills. Thursday the Panthers head to Hudson before traveling to Berlin on Friday.
