Fillies off to a fast start
9/4/06
The 2006 Panola Fillies Volleyball team got off to a fast start by winning the Midland Chap kickoff classic. The Fillies defeated Alvin Community College (30-26, 30-26, 26-30, 27-30, 15-13) and Hill College (30-23, 30-9, 30-20) on day number one. The second day began with a match versus the host team, Midland College, who is ranked #7 in the country according to the latest national rankings. Panola defeated Midland (30-26, 30-15, 30-20) and then defeated Vernon College in three to win the tournament (30-16, 30-18, 30-18).
Stat leaders for the tournament include:
Kills: Alyssa Oberle- 57
Hitting %: Julie Elliot- .493
Aces: Ashley Dawson, Nikki Morin- 14
Assists: Cherie Porter- 84
Blocks: Shampagne Fewell- 10
Digs: Nikki Morin- 103
The Fillies next match was a rematch versus Alvin Community College in Alvin, Texas. Alvin played very well, but the Fillies were able to win the match in 4 games (31-29, 30-27, 16-30, 30-26).
Stat leaders for the match were:
Kills: Julie Elliot- 16
Hitting %: Julie Elliot- .417
Aces: Cherie Porter, Jessica Del Toro- 4
Assists: Cherie Porter- 23
Blocks: Lauren Secord- 4
Digs: Nikki Morin- 33
The latest tournament for the Fillies was the Hill College Labor Day Tournament. Teams in attendance for this tourney included Hill College, Brookhaven College, the 15th ranked team in the nation- Seward College (Kansas), and #7 ranked Midland College. The tournament format had teams playing 2 out of 3 game matches instead of the traditional 3 out of 5.
The Fillies started strong by defeating host Hill College (30-20, 30-24) and Brookhaven (30-23, 30-23) on the first day. The Fillies then fell to #15 Seward (23-30, 23-30) and then finished third in the tournament by being defeated by #7, and eventual tournament champion, Midland College (28-30, 25-30). “Looking back at this tournament we did not play very well the second day of competition, said Coach Nowalk. We need to get back to basics and re-focus on our skills so that we may execute better.”
Stat leaders for the tournament include:
Kills: Alyssa Oberle- 34
Hitting %: Julie Elliot- .400
Aces: Ashley Dawson- 6
Assists: Cherie Porter- 56
Blocks: Shanpagne Fewell- 6
Digs: Nikki Morin- 47
So this leaves the 2006 Panola Fillies with a record of 7-2 with one first place tourney finish, and one third place finish.
“The team is off to a great start. Our only loses are to highly nationally ranked teams and we are getting better every time we step on the court”, said Coach Nowalk.
The Fillies will need to get better as the season rolls along because they are in one of the toughest conferences in the nation. Panola’s conference includes four teams that were receiving national votes at the end of the 2005 season. So far this season three other teams besides Panola have already beaten highly nationally ranked teams.
The Fillies home opener is Tuesday, Sept. 5th against Cisco Junior College at 6pm. Then the Fillies head out on the road for matches against Richland and Ranger Colleges.
Home matches for the 2006 season include:
Sept. 5 6pm vs. Cisco
Sept. 18 6pm vs. Wharton
Sept. 26 6pm vs. Hill
Sept. 30 1pm vs. Richland
Oct. 2 6pm vs. Navarro
Oct. 5 6pm vs. Blinn
Oct. 12 6pm vs. Paris
Oct. 14 2pm vs. Galveston
Oct. 17 6pm vs. San Jac
Oct. 26 7pm vs. Tyler
Nov. 7 6pm vs. Alvin