Lady Panthers Edge Aubrey

<p>Aubrey 25, Van Alstyne 20
</p>

<p>Van Alstyne 25, Aubrey 9
</p>

<p>Aubrey 25, Van Alstyne 18
</p>

<p>Van Alstyne 25,Aubrey 20
</p>

<p>Van Alstyne 15, Aubrey 13
</p>

<p>
</p>

<p>By Jack Walker
</p>

<p>Staff Writer
</p>

<p>
</p>

<p>In most cases the differences between winning and losing is evident by the physical performance on the court. After Van Alstyne's thrilling 5-set win over Aubrey last Friday, coach Jana Milner credited her teams mental approach in getting the first win of the year.
</p>

<p>"Against Sanger, when we dropped behind we lost our confidence." "Tonight we kept our focus and didn't get discouraged with lost points or lost games."
</p>

<p>That ability to rebound was most evident in the second set spanking the Lady Panthers handed Aubrey. After dropping the first set by five Van Alstyne came roaring back for a 25-9 win to even the match.
</p>

<p>Kills by Sam Hutchison and Lori Airon helped get the visitors off to a 6-2 start and the offense continued to pile on the points. Jessica Baker capped a long rally with an emphatic slam to the Aubrey side and back-to-back aces by Hutchison
</p>

<p>propelled Van Alstyne to an 11-3 advantage. The headaches continued for Aubrey and a service winner by Jenny Pickett set up the finish as the Lady Panthers pounded out the 16-point win.
</p>

<p>Madeline Carroll got Van Alstyne off to a positive start in the third set, sending in three consecutive aces. Aubrey had a couple of heavy hitters on its side of the net and one of those, Kayla Bernard, led the rally. Benard slammed home a pair of kills and an ace by Allison Crooks tied the set at 8-8. The two teams battled evenly for a bit, a Hutchison kill made it 12-13 Aubrey, but then Bernard went to work. The Lady Chaps built up a 5-point lead and Van Alstyne could never get over the hump, losing by seven.
</p>

<p>Van Alstyne got off on a 7-0 run to start the fourth set and the big plus was the service receive game which was dominated by libero Olivia Wilkins. Wilkins didn't score a point in the contest but coach Milner didn't hesitate in picking the junior as player of the game.
</p>

<p>Kills by Hutchison and Airon built up the visitor's lead to 8-points before Aubrey started to creep back up on the scoreboard.
</p>

<p>A Benard kill made it 21-17 Van Alstyne but service errors doomed the Lady Chaps comeback bid and the Lady Panthers evened the match at two games apiece.
</p>

<p>The Lady Panthers got off to a quick start in the 15-point tiebreaker, building up a 4-0 lead before Aubrey scored. That fourth point was a mid-court winner by Hunter Offill.
</p>

<p>Aubrey took an 8-7 lead but a kill by Airon tied the contest and it was tied at 11,12 and 13 each before Carroll pushed home a winner and Airon's shot to the right corner fell in, giving the Lady Panthers their first win of the 2010 season.
</p>

<p>After a five set match, it looked like all those per-season workouts paid off.
</p>

<p>Action will come in the Prosper tournament on August 20-21. </p>