November 10, 2015 - The Panola College Volleyball team put together another solid run this past weekend at the Region XIV Conference tournament at Tyler Junior College, but finished third place and just one win short of extending the season by earning a bid to the NJCAA National Tournament after falling to San Jacinto-Central College Sunday afternoon, 13-25, 25-18, 11-25, 25-17, 12-15.
The Fillies opened the tournament Friday with a thrilling come from behind victory against Wharton County Junior College: 16-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-19, 18-16. Freshman outside hitter Ana Carolina Oliveira led the Fillies with 19 kills on .421 hitting, 28 assists, 12 digs and a solo block.
Freshman Sharon Tukuaoga and sophomore Brittany Lampkin joined her in double-digit kills with 15 and 11, respectively. Sophomore Leiyona Young posted an impressive 8 total blocks for the match, while the background defense was anchored by the freshman trio of Morgan Currie leading with 25 digs, followed by Victoria Baptista Santos (17) and Oliveira (12). Sophomore Adriana Skipper led with 30 assists.
The Fillies then had to bounce back quickly from a 0-3 sweep in the Saturday morning match against eventual tournament champion Blinn College to take down Lee College in three sets, 25-22, 25-23, and 25-23. Tukuaoga led a balanced Panola attack that match with 11 kills, followed by Lampkin (9), Oliveira (8), freshman Rachel Henderson (7) and Young (4). Four players tallied double-digit digs: Currie (18), sophomore Kendal Savarino (13), Oliveira (12), and Baptista Santos (10).
Panola then found themselves in another elimination game for their third contest of the day, this time matched with conference-rival Tyler Junior College. A strong, balanced performance gave the Fillies the victory in four sets: 25-23, 21-25, 25-19, 25-19. All six Panola hitters tallied 6 or more kills led by 12 kills on .333 hitting from Tukuaoga, followed by Henderson (9 kills on .320 hitting), Young (7 kills on .400 hitting), and Oliveira, Lampkin, and Baptista Santos all adding 6 kills apiece. The Fillies were a dominant blocking force at the net, tallying a season-high 30 block assists and 11 solos to TJC's 14 block assists and only 2 solos. The staggering blocking numbers included 8 block assists and 4 solos from Young alone, in addition to 7 block assists from Lampkin, 5 from Baptista Santos and 5 solo blocks from Henderson. Panola was stellar behind the block as well, receiving 25 digs from Currie, 11 from Savarino and 11 from Baptista Santos. Oliveira led with 22 assists, followed closely by Skipper chipping in 20.
With only three teams left standing in Region XIV, Panola returned to action in a Sunday afternoon showdown with San Jacinto-Central in a fight to earn the second bid to Nationals after Blinn College punched their ticket with a straight sweep over the Ravens Saturday evening.
It was a game of momentum, and after the Fillies struggled early, both teams traded sets to force a decisive fifth and final set to 15. The two evenly-matched squads traded points again and were tied as late as 11-11, before the Ravens composed a 4-1 scoring run to finish the match and earn a spot in the conference championship that also guaranteed a trip to Casper,Wyoming for the NJCAA National Tournament November 19-21.
Oliveira led the Fillies offensively in the 5-set heartbreaker with 15 kills, followed by 11 from Tukuaoga and 10 from Rachel Henderson. Four Fillies tallied double-digit digs, led this time by Baptista Santos with 21, followed by Oliveira (16), Currie (14), and Skipper (12).
The all-around performance of freshman Ana Carolina Oliveira all weekend secured her a place on the prestigious Region XIV All-Tournament team, one of only seven players in the entire tournament to receive such recognition.
The Fillies finished the 2015 season with an overall record of 30-9, with 7 of 9 losses coming to Top 20-ranked opponents, and a 3rd Place overall finish in the competitive Region XIV conference.
"It's disappointing falling short of nationals when we were just a game away for the second year in a row," said Head Coach Amber McCray. "But our girls battled so much adversity to play their hearts out all weekend, and I'm very proud of the way we competed and represented Panola College these past few days and all year."
