The Park Hill South Panthers’ girls’ volleyball team came from behind to win the Battle of the Hills in the Class 5 District 8 semifinals at Staley High School on Saturday, Oct. 26, thus ending the season of its rival Park Hill.
Sydni Fafasciano with a hit. DENNIS SHARKEY/Citizen Photo
The Trojans grabbed the first set 25-18 over South by coming from behind after South had jumped out to an early 8-3 lead. The Trojans battled back to tie the match at 10-10 and took a 16-10 lead on a 13-2 run. South was able to get the set to within two scores at 19-17 but couldn’t catch up.
South fell behind early and had to come back themselves in the second set to win 25-20. South tied the set with an ace at 6-6 and was either tied or ahead for the rest of the set.
The Panthers jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set and were never in any danger to give away the set before taking a 2-1 match lead with a 25-12 win.
In the fourth set, the score was tied eight different times, and there were two lead changes before the Panthers pulled away at the end to win 25-21 in the fourth set.
Senior Peyton Liming and junior Sydni Lafasciano tied the team lead with 22 kills apiece for the Panthers. Lafasciano connected on close to 49 percent of her hits, while Liming connected on more than 61 percent of her shots across the net.
As a team, the Panthers collected 11 aces, led by senior Avery DeMint with four. Senior Claire Langer and Liming each had two aces, while junior Brynna Fox, senior Claire Bingham, and Lafasciano each had an ace.
Lafasciano led the Panthers with three blocks, while junior Vada Brattin and sophomore Dakota Owenby each had two blocks. Lafasciano also led the team with 18 digs, followed by Fox with eight digs and Langer and Bingham with seven apiece. DeMint led the Panthers with 29 assists, followed by Bingham with 21.
The Trojans beat the Staley Falcons in five sets to reach the semifinal on Thursday, Oct. 24 at Staley High School. Staley took the first set 25-12 before Park Hill came back to win the next two sets 25-22 and 25-18. Staley fought off elimination with a 25-16 win in the fourth set, but the Trojans pulled the match out with a 15-7 win in the fifth set.
The Trojans had four players with double-digit kills, led by junior Ava Daneff with 17, followed by junior Parker Kimball with 13. Senior Boston Wand and freshman Payton Osegueda each had 10 kills. Junior Addyson Staples led the team with three aces, followed by junior Brooke Brown and junior Myer Cohara with two aces. Wand led the Trojans with six blocks, and Brown led the team with 21 digs versus the Falcons.
South took out Oak Park in the quarterfinals in three sets on Thursday, Oct. 21, at Staley High School. South won 25-8, 25-3, and 25-7. The Panthers will take on Liberty Tuesday night after the press deadline for the championship at Staley High School.
