August 25, 2015 - The Panola College Volleyball team opened season this past weekend at the annual Dana Hatch Invite with a strong showing, facing 4 solid teams all ranked within the top 13 of the National Polls. The Fillies finished 2-2 sweeping 13th ranked Hill College and coming back from a 0-2 deficit to defeat the defending National Champions and 7th ranked team Blinn College. Freshman RS Sharon Tukuaoga was named to the All-Tournament Team.
PC opened the weekend against the 6th ranked team in the Nation, Iowa Western and fell in three straight sets; 23-25, 21-25, 20-25. Freshman, RS Sharon Tukuaoga led the offense with 13 kills, while sophomore setter Adrianna Skipper dished out 18 assists, and freshman libero Morgan Currie picked up 12 digs.
In the second match of the day, the Fillies took on a sophomore laden team in 8th ranked Salt Lake, falling in 3 sets 19-25, 19-25, 19-25. Sophomore MB Brittany Lampkin tallied 9 kills hitting a blistering .692, sophomore setter Sierra Moses had 10 assists, and once again Morgan Curried led the defense with 12 digs.
PC rebounded the second day by picking up two signature wins against ranked opponents. In the first match of the day, the Fillies swept Hill College 25-23, 25-20, 25-15. Panola College kept Hill off balance with several players racking up kills freshman RS/MB Rachel Henderson led the way with 8, freshman OH Ana Carolino Oliviera added 6, and RS Sharon Tukuaoga picked up 5. The setting duo of Sierra Moses and Adrianna Skipper combined for 30 assists (15 apiece) and libero Morgan Currie had her best match of the tourney notching 18 digs. Defense was the key the game, with the Filies picking up 20 more digs than its opponent.
In the final game of the tourney, Panola College was matched up against the two time National Champs, Blinn College. Blinn jumped out early picking up the first two sets 11-25 and 20-25, but the Fillies fought back and took the next three sets 25-22, 28-26, and 17-15. RS Sharon Tukuaoga led the offensive attack with 14 kills, and freshman OH Victoria Baptista Santos had her best match of the weekend adding 11 kills and 17 digs. RS/MB Rachel Henderson and MB Brittany Lampkin added 7 kills apiece. Adrianna Skipper and Sierra Moses racked up 25 assists apiece and combined for 12 digs. OH Ana Oliviera racked up 15 digs and Morgan Currie added 8.
