Panthers make 2006 volleyball debut in Round Lake

The Ellsworth volleyball team opened the 2006 season by competing at a pair of events late last week.The Panthers lost a three-game decision to open conference play against Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster in Round Lake Thursday. EHS went 0-3 at Saturday’s Central Lyon Tournament in Rock Rapids, Iowa.Ellsworth, 0-4 overall, hosts Red Rock Central tonight.CL tourneyThe Panthers dropped three consecutive matches during Saturday’s tournament in Rock Rapids.EHS played a good match against Boyden-Hull to end the day, but they struggled early against Sheldon and George-Little Rock."Our blocking wasn’t there and our serving hurt us in the first two matches," said Panther coach Leah Christie."The girls really pulled together and worked hard in the third match. We had a lot of long volleys, but we just couldn’t get over the top."The Panthers opened the event by dropping 21-11 and 21-15 decisions to Sheldon.Brooke Kramer recorded five kills and five digs in the opener. Amanda Conners charted six set assists. Molly Kramer and Mya Mann served one ace each.G-LR saddled EHS with 21-15 and 21-14 setbacks in the second round.Mann served three aces and registered one kill, while Conners served three aces and charted two set assists. Molly Kramer led the team with four digs. Brooke Kix chipped in one kill.B-H upended the Panthers by 27-25 and 22-25 scores in the finale.Conners, who had five set assists, and Molly Kramer served two aces each. Brooke Kramer and Amanda DeBoer registered two kills each. Mann had seven digs.SV-RL-B 3, Ellsworth 0The Panther girls opened the 2006 season by playing in their first Red Rock Conference match in school history Thursday in Round Lake.Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster didn’t prove to be a gracious host as the Raiders welcomed EHS to the new league by handing them 25-12, 25-21 and 25-16 setbacks.Ellsworth hurt itself during the match by missing 14 serves, but Panther coach Christie was happy with her team’s performance overall."It was a match of a lot of long volleys. We just couldn’t finish many of those volleys off. I thought we played well for the first time out. Now we just have to work on some of the little things," she said.Brooke Kramer led the Panthers with five kills and 10 blocks. Amanda DeBoer, who served two aces, charted two kills along with Brooke Kix.Mya Mann registered seven digs and completed seven of seven serves with two aces. Amanda Connors recorded nine set assists.