Lewis County Herald - Serving Hohenwald, Lewis County Tennessee Since 1898

By Jason Fite

Sports writer

The Lewis County Middle School Lady Panthers travelled to Lawrenceburg and E.O. Coffman Middle School to play in the Conference Tournament.

In their opening match the Lady Panthers faced the Collinwood Middle School Lady Trojans. Lewis County struggled to hold serve through the first four rotations as the Lady Trojans took an early 9-5 lead. Collinwood used a 4-point run in the fifth rotation to pull away to a 14-7 lead. The Lady Trojans would close out the opening set with a 7-point streak to take the set 25-11. After the break the teams were tied 6-6 after four rotations and the Lady Panthers took a slight lead with a 4-point run in the fifth rotation to go up 11-8. A 6-point streak in the sixth rotation pulled Collinwood back out in front, and they rode the momentum to take the second set 25-15 and the match 2-0.

The Lady Panthers fell into the losers bracket and faced the New Prospect Lady Tigers in the second round. The first set was tied 4-4 after three rotations and Lewis County ran off 8-point streak to take a 13-8 lead. New Prospect used a 6-point run in the fifth rotation to reclaim the lead at 15-14. The Teams would exchange the lead until late and the Lady Panthers would take a 25-19 win in the first set. After the break the Lady Tigers would use a 6-point run on their opening service to go up 7-1. Each team would break service over the next two rotations and Lewis County trailed 9-3. Neither team could make ground over the next seven rotations as New Prospect held on to a 24-19 lead. The Lady Panthers ran off 4-straight points but fell short in a 25-23 second set, tying the match at 1 set apiece. I. The third and final set the Lady Panthers took a 5-2 lead after the first rotation. The teams matched each other over the following four rotations with the Lady Panthers clinging to an 11-8 lead. New Prospect used a 3-point run in the sixth rotation to pull even, but the Lady Panthers would reclaim the lead and take a 16-14 set win and win the second match 2-1.

The Lady Panthers moved on to the third round to face the Ethridge Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Panthers were the first team to hold service when, in the third rotation, they put together a couple of points to take a 5-3 lead. Lewis County took a 10-7 lead after six rotations, and a 7-point streak in the seventh rotation gave the Lady Panthers a comfortable 18-8 lead that they carried to a 25-14 win in the opening set. Ethridge rebounded in the second set of the match, breaking Lady Panther service in four consecutive rotations and using a 7-point run to open up a 14-4 lead. The Lady Panthers continued to struggle to keep pace with the Lady Bulldogs as Ethridge made quick work of the second set, taking the set win 25-11 and even the match up at 1 set each. In the third and deciding set of the match the teams were tied 8-8 after four rotations. Ethridge took the advantage in the fifth rotation, taking a 12-9 lead, and went on to take the deciding set 15-10 to move on in the tournament, ending the Lady Panther season.