By Jason Fite

Sports writer

The Lewis County Lady panthers traveled to Collinwood on Tuesday, September 6th for varsity and junior varsity volleyball matches with the Lady Trojans.

The junior varsity squads for both teams took the floor to begin play on Tuesday afternoon. In the opening set of junior varsity play the Lady Trojan JV broke service in the early rotations and was able to jump out to a 5-1 lead over the Lady Panther JV. Lewis County would be able to pull back even when the score reached 7-7, but Collinwood again pulled away to take a 13-7 lead after the fourth rotation. In the fifth rotation the Lady Trojan JV put together a 6-point scoring run to go up 20-9, and went on tot take the first junior varsity set 25-10. In the second JV set it was all Lady Trojans, as they continued to break service of the Lady Panthers and built a 14-5 lead midway through the set. Lewis County his a short scoring streak to make it 15-10, but the early lead was too much to overcome as Collinwood took the second junior varsity set 25-12 and take the match 2-0.

Collinwood jumped out early in the opening set of varsity play behind a 6-point run to begin action. The Lady panthers struggled through the first set to maintain service, and Collinwood continued to add to their already large lead and took a 20-4 lead into the eighth rotation. Collinwood would seal the first set win 25-5. After the break it was more of the same for the two teams as the Lady Panthers continued to struggle with the Collinwood serve. Another early point streak for the Lady Trojans put Lewis County behind 8-2 after three rotations, and Collinwood was able to continue to add to their lead with substitutions midway through the set. Lewis County would hit a 4-point run late in the set, but Collinwood broke serve and shut the door, taking the second set 25-8. In what would be the final set of varsity play, Collinwood stayed out in front after taking an early 5-2 lead and cruised to take the final set 25-7 and the match 3-0.

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The Lewis County High School Lady Panthers hosted the Summertown Lady Eagles for junior varsity and varsity volleyball matches on Thursday, September 8th at LCHS.

The two junior varsity squads took the floor to begin play. The Lady Panther JV struggled to maintain service from the opening of the first set as Summertown was able to break serve and put together point runs to jump out in front 9-2 early. Lewis County was never able to put together anything from serve in the opening set as the Lady Eagle JV was continually taking back service and opening up a big lead to take the win in the first set of junior varsity play 25-6. The second set of junior varsity play was similar to the first as the Lady Panther JV continued to struggle to maintain service and the Lady Eagle JV continued to pull away after each service break. The Lady Eagle JV would take the second set of junior varsity play 25-5 and take the junior varsity match 2-0.

The varsity match between the Lady Panthers and Lady Eagles was much like the junior varsity matchup. The Lady Eagles entered the match with a 20-3 record on the season and had defeated the Lady Panthers 3-0 earlier in the season. Summertown took control early on the first rotation with a quick 5-point run before a miscue gave Lewis County the serve. Summertown quickly broke serve and went on another scoring burst of 6 to take a 12-1 lead. Summertown never looked back in the opening set of varsity play as they cruised to a 25-3 set win. After a short break the Lady Eagles picked up where the left off, using powerful finishes on volleys and holding service for long streaks to take a commanding 14-2 lead midway through the set. Lewis County was unable to break service and Summertown again dominated the set and took a 25-4 win in set two. In the third and final set of varsity action, Summertown mixed up personnel and was still able to take a commanding lead early at 9-2. As the set played out the Lady Panthers were unable to break serve and maintain service on their own side as Summertown took the third set 25-6 and the match 3-0.

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The Lewis County High School volleyball team travelled to Perry County on Tuesday, September 13th for junior varsity and varsity matches with the Lady Vikings.

Junior varsity opened play as the Lady Panther JV and Lady Viking JV took the floor first. Lewis County’s junior varsity put together a pair of 3-point runs in the first two rotations and took an early 8-3 lead. Perry County broke serve and picked up a pair of points in the third rotation and cut the Lady Panther lead to 9-7. Lewis County would then combine service break points and a 5-point run to extend their lead to 16-8 and go on to take the opening JV set 25-14. The second set of junior varsity play saw Perry County inch out to a 4-2 lead early, but Lewis County bounced back to claim an 8-5 lead after 4 rotations. In the fifth rotation after breaking serve, the Lady Panthers went on a 5-point streak to pull out in front 14-6. Perry County struggled to break serve and Lewis County pulled away to take the second JV set by a score of 25-15 and the junior varsity match 2-0.

The varsity match between the two schools began with each team breaking serve in the first 3 rotations as Lewis County held a slim 5-4 lead. Perry county hit a 4-point run to claim the lead at 8-6, and Lewis County countered with a 3-point run of their own and cut the Perry County lead to 10-9 after five rotations. The set would continue to go back and forth until Lewis County took the win in extra points 26-24. the second set started out as close as the first ended, with each team matching short point streaks and service breaks. The second set was tied at 8-8 after four rotations and Perry County secured service and pulled out to a 13-8 lead. Lewis County fought back to tie the set at 15, and Perry County again inched out in front to a 18-16 lead after seven rotations. The set would again tie at 20, and Perry County would end the set on a 5-point run to take the second set of varsity 25-21. Lewis County bounced back in the third set, using a pair of early 4-point runs to pull out to a 10-3 lead after three rotations. Perry County struggled to maintain service for the next three rotations and Lewis County built a 16-7 lead after six rotations. The Lady Vikings would counter in the seventh rotation with a quick 3-point run to cut it to 17-11 and gain more ground he next rotation with a second 3-point run to make it an 18-15 score. Lewis County would fend off the Lady Viking and take the third set by a score of 25-18. The fourth set would be the final set of varsity play as the Lady Panthers had a pair of 5-point runs midway through the set to hold a 16-7 lead and go on to take the set 25-15 and the match 3-1.

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The Lewis County High School Lady Panthers traveled to Hampshire to take on the Lady Hawks in junior varsity and varsity volleyball play on Thursday, September 20th.

The Lady Panther junior varsity opened play against the Lady Hawk JV and put together a pair of short scoring runs in the first two rotations and took a 7-4 lead. Hampshire fought back on a pair of brief runs of their own and the first set stood tied at 11 after four complete rotations. The two junior varsity teams went back and forth over the next three rotations and Lewis County held a slim 19-18 lead. In the eighth rotation the Lady Panther JV slipped behind and ended up dropping the opening JV set 25-21. Lewis County came back after the break and built a 7-5 lead early on. Hampshire reclaimed the lead midway through the second set at 15-14 and the two teams battled to extra points before Hampshire closed out the set 26-24 and the match 2-0.

The varsity match saw the Lady Hawks jump out in front in the opening two rotations of the first set by a score of 6-3. The Lady hawks continued to break the Lady panther serve and extended their lead to 15-6 after five rotations. In the sixth rotation Lewis County found some footing and pulled to within 5 points with Hampshire holding on to a 16-11 lead. Hampshire again broke Lewis County’s serve and pulled out to a 20-12 lead. Lewis County would struggle to get back in the set and dropped the opener 25-17. The second set saw Hampshire push the pace with service points and service breaks over the first four rotations and held a 13-5 lead. Lewis County would hit a 3-point streak in the fifth rotation, but a couple of miscues would allow Hampshire to take an 18-8 lead going into the seventh rotation. The teams would each break service, but Hampshire would put the game away in the tenth rotation and win the second set 25-12. In what would be the third and final set Hampshire dominated the opening three rotations in building a 12-3 lead. The lead continued to grow over the next two rotations as Hampshire held a 16-6 lead midway through the set. Lewis County would try to rally, but lost service trailing 19-11. Hampshire would complete the sweep, winning the third set 25-15 and the match 3-0.

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The Lewis County High School Lady Panthers traveled to Mt. Pleasant on Tuesday, September 20th to face the Mt. Pleasant Lady Tigers in junior varsity and varsity volleyball action.

Junior varsity action started the day at Mt. Pleasant as the Lady Panther JV and Lady Tiger JV took the court first. Mt. Pleasant took advantages of early service breaks to jump out in front of Lewis County 5-2. Lewis County was unable to maintain service throughout the opening junior varsity set and the Lady Tigers capitalized by extending their lead to 12-5 midway through the set. Lewis County would be able to break and hold serve after the sixth rotation and cut the deficit to 16-11, but Mt. Pleasant would close the set out in the next two rotations to take the set win 25-15. The second set of junior varsity play was all Lady Tigers as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the early rotations. Lewis County struggled to play catch-up for the remainder of the set and dropped the second set 25-11 and the junior varsity match 2-0.

In the varsity match the first set started off as a back-and-forth battle between the district foes. Each team matched the other in points through the first four rotations as the first set was tied at 8. The Lady Tigers hit the first extended streak of the set, going on a 5-point run to separate from the Lady Panthers. Lewis County hit a short 3-point streak to cut the score to 15-12, but it was short lived as Mt. Pleasant countered with a 4-point run of their own and pulled out to a 20-13 lead. Mt. Pleasant would take set one of varsity play 25-16. The second set started with Mt. Pleasant scoring 6 of the sets first 8 points, and Lewis County struggled to cut into the lead from the third rotation on. Mt. Pleasant continued to pull away in the second set to a 25-14 set victory. In the third and final set of varsity play Lewis County held a slim 5-3 lead after the first two rotations. Mt. Pleasant would overtake the lead in the fourth rotation at 9-8 and never looked back. Mt. Pleasant would take the third set of varsity play 25-15 and the match 3-0.