By Robert Whitmire

The Panthers returned to Wisconsin Valley Conference play Thursday night at the SPASH Fieldhouse, taking a 3-0 win over Wausau East to improve their conference record to 2-1.

East drops to 0-1 in the conference.

“The girls showed much better communication tonight and they moved they moved much better as a unit,” said head coach Liz Thomas. “We’re heading into a tough Saturday and looking forward to playing more.”

The Lumberjacks jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead in set one. SPASH battled back to knot the score at 22-22 before going on to take set one 25-23.

The Panthers found themselves down 10-8 early in set two, then outscored East 17-4 down the stretch for the 25-14 win.

SPASH jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the final set. East was able pull within three points at 18-15 before the Panthers closed out the set on a 7-2 run for a 25-17 final.

Ally Miklesh recorded 34 sets for the Panthers. Madeleine Burch rang up 20 Kills and 3 Service Aces, and Allysa Deates finished the night with 10 Digs.

“This season we have a lot of potential to do great things and hopefully go far,” said senior Brittany Flugaur. “Coming up this weekend we have our first Wisconsin Valley Conference tournament. We have played most teams in our conference already, therefore we have the knowledge to be tough competition.”

The Panthers compete in the Wisconsin Valley Conference Meet on Saturday at Marshfield with matches against Wausau West, D.C. Everest, and Merrill.

“I believe our team has a chance to improve and take home more wins from in our conference and we all have very high hopes of the rest of the season,” said Flugaur.

Following Saturday’s tournament action the Panthers will travel to the Appleton East Invite Sept. 24 at 9:00 AM, then to Merrill Sept. 29 for a 7:00 PM match before returning to the SPASH Fieldhouse Oct. 4 to face Chippewa Falls.