The Wallkill Panthers finally managed to win a match in three sets.

The Panthers rallied back in the second and third sets and blanked the Mid Hudson Athletic League Division II leading Marlboro Dukes, 3-0, on Oct. 1 in a crossover volleyball match at Wallkill Senior High School.

“We played really hard,” senior libero Sophia Crinieri said. “We all love it when we have a good outcome like this. We really fight for these games.”

The Panthers hadn’t had a three-set victory since they beat the Rondout Valley Ganders on Sept. 12 in straight sets. Their only other three-set matches this season were a loss to the FDR Presidents on Sept. 5 and a 3-0 loss to the Saugerties Sawyers on Sept. 19.

Their last two matches had gone five, including their 3-2 win over the Highland Huskies the previous day.
“I’m very happy to get a three-set win,” Wallkill coach Julie Michella said. “We’ve been battling with a lot of teams going four or five sets, and I feel like this was really good for this group because we’re young.”
That doesn’t mean it was easy.

The first two sets were decided by six and seven points respectively, and the Panthers trailed from behind for most of the third, and pulled it out, 26-24, to seal the victory.

The Panthers led by about two points for most of the first set, before they pulled away late for a 25-19 win to get things started.

The Dukes took an early 4-0 lead in the second, but the Panthers tied the set twice. Crinieri’s ace tied the set at 11-11 and they never trailed again. They opened a two-point lead after a hitting error by Marlboro’s Gianna Fiore and another Crinieri ace.

The Dukes tied the set three times, but a kill by Wallkill’s Ava O’Flaherty gave the Panthers the lead for good.

That led to a long service run by Kimmy Merrill, which opened a 23-17 lead.

The Panthers took the set 25-18.

“Every set was a battle,” Michella said. “We didn’t start out the sets so strong. We were getting ourselves in a couple-point hole that we had to battle back. But we were able to stay aggressive and not play soft to be able to make our comeback.”

The Dukes opened a five-point lead (10-5) in the third set, but the Panthers came back to tie things up at 12-12 on an ace by Kendra DeGroat. However, the Dukes took the lead back and opened a 24-21 lead after a hitting error by Crinieri.

But an ace by DeGroat and Allessandro tipped the ball into an empty space to tie the match at 24-25. DeGroat delivered another ace to give Wallkill a 25-24 lead and when Marlboro’s return went out, the Panthers erupted in celebration.

“It was really relieving,” Crinieri said. “I think we all held our breath.”

Crinieri led the Panthers with two assists, 12 digs and two aces, while Ava O’Flaherty registered 11 kills, nine digs and two aces. Kimmy Merrill had four kills, 25 assists, nine digs and five aces, and Gianna Allessandro had six kills and 11 digs. Emma Larocco had six kills and two blocks.

Ella Crane had five kills and three digs for the Dukes, while Katie Mohl had five digs and five blocks. Emma Jackson had four kills, 15 digs, four aces and two blocks.

They beat the Huskies the previous day, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-10.

Allessandro had 15 kills, and 14 digs and O’Flaherty had 13 kills, two assists, 20 digs and two aces. Merrill had five kills, 35 assists, while LaRocco had eight kills and two blocks. Abigail Avila had 13 digs.

Last week’s wins were the first time the Panthers (5-4, 3-3 MHAL) had won two straight all season.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, but we continuously try to come out on top,” Crinieri said. “We’ve really pushed hard in practice to get to the point where we’re at.”