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Steve Williams

Josie Santos with the kill!

Panola Fillies will face Blinn at 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 27.

The Fillies will go on the road to play Temple on November 1, and then move on to the Region XIV Tournament November 4-5. The Panola Fillies are ranked #18 in the NJCAA poll and hope to move up with a win against unbeaten Blinn on Thursday.

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Season Highlights
The Fillies took care of business in the first half of a 4-match home stretch with two wins over Wharton County Junior College and Trinity Valley Community College. Panola kicked off their winning spree Monday night, October 10, sweeping Wharton for the third time this season with scores of 25-15, 25-19, and 25-13. It was a total team effort that included 12 kills and 6 digs by Josie Santos and 10 kills and 5 blocks by Marcela Alves. Vanessa Gomes added 8 kills and 2 blocks and freshman Jasmine Austin contributed 5 kills on a blazing .833 hitting percentage in her first match as a starter for the Fillies. Sophomore Hali Turner continued her terrific all-around play with 6 kills in 8 swings, 6 digs and an ace. Emily Adams led the Fillies in assists versus Wharton with 28, while Nausheen Merchant once again anchored Panola's defense with 10 digs.

The Fillies then staved off a good run from a tough TVCC team, October 13, playing very well right now to earn the second win of the week in 3 sets: 27-25, 25-21, 25-18. The first set of the match was a highly-contested battle before the Fillies kicked it into another gear for sets 2 and 3. Panola used a balanced attack to defeat the Cardinals led by 12 kills, 2 blocks and 3 aces from Santos and 10 kills from Alves. Gomes posted a perfect hitting clip with 6 kills on 6 swings & 3 blocks, while Sam Peterson posted 4 kills, 5 blocks. Merchant was a difference maker in the backrow with 18 digs, while PC used a dual threat at the setter position with Sammie Nieman and Emily Adams dishing out 21 and 14 assists, respectively. With the win, the Fillies advanced to 6-3 in conference play.

Saturday, October 15, the Fillies took a break from conference play to sweep Hill College: 25-18, 25-16, 25-8. Panola College dominated the entire match, allowing every Fillies player to see action and contribute to the win. Offensive leaders for that match were Santos, Alves and Samantha Peterson with 10, 9 and 7 kills, respectively. Peterson along with freshman middle blocker Jasmine Austin added 3 blocks a piece to help anchor the Fillies defense with Merchant's 15 digs. It was a joint effort for the setters, led by 21 assists from Emily Adams and 10 from Sammie Nieman.

Monday night, October 15, the Fillies wrapped up a 4-match home stretch with a sweep of Lon Morris: 25-13, 25-15, 25-22. It was a total team effort again with Josie Santos leading Panola with 9 kills and 9 digs. Santos was followed closely by Vanessa Gomes who added 8 kills and 3 blocks, then 7 kills and 4 blocks from Marcela Alves. Hali Turner was also great all-around for the Fillies chipping in 8 kills and 10 digs while Nausheen Merchant added 20 digs in the win.

With the two victories. the Fillies improve to 16-7 on the year. They return to action this Thursday when they hit the road for another tough match-up against currently 12th-ranked Paris Junior College.