The Wallkill Panthers were up by a set, and leading the second set by 11 points, needing only four points to take a two-set lead.

Then, things started to fall apart.

The Red Hook Raiders closed the gap to four points before the Panthers took the second set. After losing the third set, the Panthers got a long service run from sophomore Olivia Vlaovic, sealing the Panthers, 3-1 win over the Raiders on Sept. 15 in a Mid Hudson Athletic League volleyball match at Wallkill Senior High School.
“It was a relief,” senior captain Isabella Martinez said.

Martinez and Ava O’Flaherty, two of the Panthers’ three senior captains led the way. O’Flaherty had 12 kills, eight digs and three aces, while Martinez had 19 assists, four digs and three aces. Olivia Robles had 14 assists and five digs, while Aubrianna Bremer had seven kills and two digs. Ella Parker finished with five kills and four blocks.

“The first two sets we came our really strong,” Wallkill coach Julie Michella said. “I felt like we had a very aggressive start. Things were flowing really nicely, and we were able to play everybody on the team in those first two sets. Everybody contributed.”

The Panthers won the first set, 25-9, and then took a 22-11 lead in the second. However, the Raiders closed the gap to 24-20 before a kill by Vlaovich sent the Panthers into the third set, leading 3-0.

The Raiders continued the momentum in the third set, outlasting the Panthers, 32-30, to force a fourth set.
“I think serve-receive fand hitting errors,” Martinez said. “We got a little sloppy at the end, but then we decided to clean it up and finish the game.”

Frustration continued into the fourth set as the Panthers and Raiders traded points until a kill by Bremer broke the tie. It was the last time the Panthers trailed.

“I feel like our communication got better,” O’Flaherty said.

With Vlaovich at the service line, three Red Hook hitting errors and an ace gave the Panthers an 18-13 lead as Raiders coach Abby Carney called for a timeout. Another Red Hook hitting error gave the Panthers a 19-13 lead.

“It really brought the energy up,” Martinez said. “It helped our morale a lot and just made us play better.”
O’Flaherty went to the service line to finish the match with the Panthers leading 22-16. Three Red Hook hitting errors ended a long night on the volleyball court.

“(Vlaovich) had a really big run,” Michella said. “It finally opened up the score a little bit for us, gave us some confidence, and it felt like we were able to finish out the set aggressively with a little more fluidity from there.”

The Panthers finished the week on Thursday with a 3-1 road win over the Our Lady of Lourdes Warriors. They won the match, 25-21, 25-23, 24-26, 25-21.
After losing their opening match to the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders, the Panthers won four straight matches.

“Overall, we are playing really well,” Michella said. “We just happen to have – in each match – one et that’s a little bit off. I’ve been talking to them about consistence and how we have to have consistent energy, consistent communication to where we’re not getting that one-set drop off against teams.”