Telegraph Staff Writer
Newberry was the Class 1A state runner-up in volleyball the past two years, but it was Union County that had gotten the best of the Panthers this season in two matches, including a hard-fought 3-2 win for the District 7 championship on Oct. 28.
It was another hard-fought match on Nov. 2, but after rallying from a 2-0 deficit, the Tigers eventually fell 3-2 (25-22, 28-26, 22-25, 18-25, 15-13) to visiting Newberry in the Region 4 semifinals.
The Panthers (18-10) will play for the regional title on Saturday, Nov. 6, at Pierson Taylor (21-3).
Union (14-9) led 19-14 in the first set, but Newberry scored five straight points, including two off Abby Pace’s tip and Alexis Boyd’s block of a Caleigh Avery attack. A kill by Union’s Sabrena Howard later left the Tigers trailing 23-22, but a couple of errors gave Newberry the win.
The teams went back and forth for most of the second set. Union led 22-18, but a kill by Pace later evened the score at 23-23. Howard and Newberry’s Faith Wilson exchanged kills, while errors by both teams later saw them deadlocked at 26-26. The Panthers closed it out with Malana Kennard serving, scoring two points off kills by Wilson and Pace.
Union led 14-13 in the third set before scoring two points with Howard serving. Jaycee Davis later had two kills — each forcing a side-out — as the Tigers maintained their lead. They were up 20-17 with Davis serving, scoring two points, courtesy of Avery. She had a tip and blocked an attack by Boyd to put Union ahead 22-17.
Emily Wilson scored the eventual winning point for the Tigers when she punched a ball over that the Panthers couldn’t make a successful pass off of.
The Tigers never trailed in the fourth set after Wilson blocked an attack by Faith Wilson to put Union up 2-1. Emily Wilson was in on a total of two early blocks, while the Tigers scored two points each with Davis and Addisyn Worrell serving to take 7-3 and 10-4 leads. Howard kills were responsible for three of those points.
Union never led by less than six points after going ahead 10-4. Howard forced side-out three times off kills late in the set, while a Davis kill made the score 22-14. The Tigers would eventually win on a Newberry attack error.
Newberry got off to a fast start in the fifth set, scoring four points with Kennard serving to go up 6-2. The Panthers’ Wilson and Mykenzie Tiller each blocked an attack during that span, while Wilson also had a kill.
A Howard kill forced side-out and gave serve to Avery, with the Tigers trailing 10-8. Union scored two points off errors before Boyd blocked an attack by the Tigers’ Wilson.
The Panthers’ Wilson and Hannah Rone each had a kill to help Newberry go up 13-10. Davis recorded a kill and tipped the ball over for another point as Union tied it at 13-13, but the Panthers’ Pace blocked an attack to earn a point and force side-out. Pace then ended the match with a kill.
Official stats weren’t available by deadline.
