Elkhart vs. Westwood – Round 3

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

WESTWOOD – The Westwood Lady Panthers and Elkhart lady Elks faced off in playoff before the 2016 UIL Volleyball Playoffs to determine who would go into the postseason as third seed. The loser would still slide into the playoffs, but as the fourth seed.

In the first two match-ups, the home team won as the Lady Panthers took down the Lady Elks in Westwood by a score of 21-25, 25-22, 25-12 and 25-17 while the Lady Elks took care of business in Elkhart 25-21, 25-21, 22-25 and 25-15.

The rubber game of the match held on Friday went the way of the first two matches as the Lady Panthers defeated the Lady Elks in Westwood by a count of three sets to one.

The first set of the match saw the Lady Panthers jump out early and hold on for the 25-19 win. The second set, the Lady Elks turned the tables on their hosts and won 25-16. The all-important third set saw the two teams battle each other to a draw in the early going. Eventually though, the Lady Panthers began to pull away and secured the win by a score of 25-19.

Up by a count of two sets to one, Westwood made short work of Elkhart in the fourth set as they dominated throughout and won 25-8 to capture the match 3-1.

Head Coach Janae Evans reported Jordan Carter led the Lady Panthers on offense with 10 kills. Sara Henson added seven kills while Shamaya Downie and Katelynn Hutchens both had six. Tameia Davis added five kills in Westwood’s winning effort.

Other players of note for Westwood, according to Coach Evans, included Katelynn Hutchens with a team high 7 blocks, Makenzie Nettles with 20 digs and Chelsey Walker with 11 digs.

In addition, Evans said Avrey Jenkins had 31 assists on the night while Michaela Page had a huge night from the serving line which included a 10 point run in game four.

The win pushed the Lady Panthers’ district record to 7-6 and dropped the Lady Elks to 6-7. Overall, Westwood finished the regular season with a mark of 13-22 while Elkhart ended the regular season with a 12-23 record.

The Leon Lady Cougars won District 18-3A while the Teague Lady Lions finished second. The Lady Panthers were third and the Lady Elks finished fourth.

Westwood faced the Rio Vista Lady Eagles in the Bi-district round of the playoffs Tuesday night in Mabank while the Lady Elks squared off against the Maypearl Lady Panthers on Tuesday. As of press time the scores were not available.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].