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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – Pelham and Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa battled in the opening set, but the Panthers pulled away to secure the straight set victory over the Patriots on Thursday, Aug. 31 at Pelham High School.

The win came after another straight set victory at home on Tuesday against Jasper.

The Panthers and Patriots had a close battle in the final points of the opening set, but Pelham walked away with a victory after they closed out a 25-20 first set win.

Fresh off their opening set victory, Pelham opened up a big lead over Hillcrest in the following frame and cruised to another win, earning a 25-9 second set win to go up 2-0 in the match.

Pelham kept the dominance going in the third set, as they took another commanding lead and saw it through until the end. The Panthers beat the Patriots 25-12 in the third set to earn the match victory in straight sets, 3-0.

Londyn Wynn led the way for the Panthers offense with 13 kills off 22 attempts as she hit for an impressive +.455 on the night. Camryn McMinn was just one behind her in the kill column with 12 kills and a +.259 hitting percentage.

Caroline Hamby found the most success of any Panther on the service line, securing five aces on 17 attempts with no service errors.

Kylee Hester controlled the traffic well from the setter spot, earning 24 assists as she helped Pelham as a team hit for +.185 in the match.

Over on defense, Kamryn Rouveyrol earned 14 digs to lead the Panthers in the category, as Hester followed closely behind with 12 digs and McMinn earned 11 of her own. Caley Peterson led all Pelham players with three total blocks.

Coming up next for the Panthers, they will take on Chelsea on the road on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. in the Hornets’ home opener as Pelham prepares for the start of region play in September.