Lady Panthers’ season ends in district semis

The Mountain Grove Lady Panthers’ volleyball season came to an end last week after falling to No. 1 seed Hollister in the Class 3, District 11 Tournament semifinals.
In a battle at the Arena, the Lady Panthers gave Hollister all they could handle in the first set.
The Lady Tigers were up four at several parts of the set before the Lady Panthers picked up a block from Aubrie Gerla and Kaylee Virtue to make it 20-18.
Sophee Peterson added a late touch shot to keep the score at 23-21 before Hollister would pull away for the 25-22 win.
It was all Hollister in the second set as they jumped out to a 15-3 lead.
Some unforced errors led to the Lady Tigers just pouring it on for a 25-12 second set victory.
In the third set, Hollister went up 12-6 and built on the lead.
At match point, Mountain Grove scored four straight points with the help of a Virtue kill. The rally though was too late in the 25-17 third set loss.
In the first round, the Lady Panthers lost in the first set to Houston, 25-21.
Fortunately, the Lady Panthers did not let the adversity shake them.
Mountain Grove responded by winning two really tight sets, 25-23 and 26-24. They then dominated the fourth set, 25-17.
Mountain Grove finished the year with a 13-16-1 overall record.