Huskies win against Panthers at home for 4th straight victory

The Owatonna volleyball team seems to have found its groove as it enters the final few weeks of the season.

After starting with a loss on the road and losing a couple games at weekend tournaments, the Huskies have slowly made their way to an 8-7 record and a 4-1 record in the Big 9 Conference. They continued their solid playing on Thursday night against the Rochester Century Panthers, as they won 3-1 for their fourth straight victory.

The Huskies were coming off a 3-0 road victory against Mankato East that took place on Tuesday night before their battle on Thursday night against the Panthers.

The first set against the two teams was pretty even, as no team was able to get a comfortable lead at the start. After being tied with the Huskies at 7, the Panthers slowly gained an advantage with them having a steady three-point lead towards the end of the set.

The Panthers were ahead 22-20 at the end of the first set, with the Huskies looking like they could challenge the Panthers for the set victory. But the Panthers scored three unanswered points to take the first set 25-20.

The Panthers continued to do well at the start of the second set, with them having a 7-3 lead over the Huskies. Owatonna head coach Josh Halva decided to use one of his two timeouts of the set after the Panthers took the 7-3 lead.

The Huskies scored two points right after the timeout and were able to eventually tie the set up at 9. After being tied with the Panthers at 12, the Huskies scored six unanswered points to take a 18-12 lead.

The Panthers came back slightly to have them be behind by only four points, but the Huskies rolled away after that for a 25-18 second set victory.

The rest of the match went the Huskies way, as they won the next two sets in dominant fashion to win 3-1.

The third set saw the Huskies have a lead over the Panthers throughout the entirety of it, as junior Libby Jenson scored a kill at the end of the set to have the Huskies win it 25-10.

The Huskies fell behind in the fourth set with the Panthers getting the first point, but the Huskies quickly went ahead 2-1 and did not trail in the remainder of the set and the match. An ace by junior Adeline Schroht ended the match as the Huskies won the fourth set 25-13.

The Huskies will continue to expand their win streak on Saturday as they will compete at an invitational at the National Volleyball Center in Rochester. Their first three games will be against Lewiston-Altura, Alden-Conger, and Rochester John Marshall. They will be on the road again next week on Monday and Tuesday as they take on Kasson-Mantorville and Rochester John Marshall before returning home for a match against Albert Lea on Thursday night.