October 3, 2016 - Fifth-ranked Panola College began the weekend competing in Day 1 of the Holiday Inn Tyler Junior College Invitational with a sweep of Seward County Community College (25-16, 25-17, 25-17). A trio of freshmen led the Fillies in kills: Jaqueline da Silva (11), Kaitlyn Adams (10), and Barbara Sabino (7). Sophomore libero Morgan Currie anchored the defense with 18 digs, followed by 12 each from sophomore outsides, Victoria Baptista and Ana Oliveira.
Panola then followed immediately with another signature win over #3 Missouri State-West Plains in 4 sets: 22-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-23. It once again took a total team effort to get the win, led by 15 kills from Kaitlyn Adams, followed by 11 from both Jaqueline da Silva and Victoria Baptista, and 7 from Ana Oliveira. Cayman Sutton dished out 30 assists and Kinly Carter contributed 20. Defensively, PC was led by a gutsy performance from Morgan Currie who posted a season-high 25 digs, followed by Oliveira (16) and Baptista (14). Sophomore Rachel Henderson was also a force at the net with 8 block assists and 1 solo.
Saturday the Fillies traveled to Brookhaven College for a tri-match with the host school and Seminole State.
In their first match of the day, Panola took down host Brookhaven (25-19, 25-19, 25-14). Ana Oliveira led offensively with 11 kills on 15 swings, and Rachel Henderson added 9 kills on a blistering .800 hitting percentage. Cayman Sutton dished out 21 assists and Kinly Carter added 18. Defensively, Sutton picked up her season high in digs with 11, while Morgan Currie added 11 of her own.
In a sweep against Seminole State (25-13, 25-13, 26-24), Oliveira and Henderson once again led the way with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Sutton racked up 24 assists and Carter dished out 20. Freshman defensive specialist Camie Copeland picked up her season high with 16 digs and Currie added 10.
Panola is now 20-2 overall and returns to action Wednesday night at Navarro College to begin the second round of conference play.
