Volleyball: Permian beats Monterey for first 2-5A victory

Chalk it up as another lesson learned for Permian High School's volleyball team.

The Lady Panthers earned their first District 2-5A victory Saturday by knocking off Lubbock Monterey 25-20, 25-21, 25-22 in the Permian Fieldhouse.

Though not always artistic, the result was earned as Permian coach Robert Wills' team survived bad patches that in previous years - and even earlier this season - would have derailed any hopes of a victory.

Monterey (9-11 overall, 0-3 district) made huge runs late after Permian (13-11, 1-2) built big leads in the opening two sets of the match, but the Lady Panthers minimized the damage done to itself and held on each time.

Then in the third, Permian dug out of deficits as large as 9-4 and 16-10 to close out the match.

"We're kind of used to being behind, so it was good to pick up and really push forward," Permian setter Ashley Madden said of a 9-1 run in the third set. "(Wills) told us just to get it together and we needed to pick up the energy because we all looked dead. It feels really good, and maybe we can keep going in the right direction now."

Madden served an ace on Permian's first match point after subbing into the match, which was the fourth ace for the Lady Panthers during the rally from the 16-10 deficit in the third set.

Heather Orona, Alex Arzaga and Beth Ulrich all had one ace each during the closing 15-6 run. There were no missed serves and only two hitting errors.

"Both sides made mistakes, and they just made a few more than we did," Wills said. "We're certainly happy to get our first district win. We talk to (the players) about opportunities and we've got to take advantage of our opportunities because any district win will be hard."

Shelby Chancellor had seven kills and three blocks to help lead the Lady Panthers, while Ashleigh Alfaro and Aly Dial had six kills each. Alex Arzaga had 17 assists and two aces, while Madden had nine assists.

Matti Schumacher had 12 kills and two blocks, Kellyn Schneider had five kills and Shayla Stewart had 19 assists for Monterey, which Permian figured out quickly wouldn't be playing at quite the same level as its opponent earlier in the week - Amarillo Tascosa.

While that match resulted in a humbling three-set district loss, the Lady Panthers also improved from the experience.

"It was an eye-opener," Madden said. "I think everybody played really scared, but it did make this match seem a lot easier because (Tascosa) had a lot of good hitters. We covered really well and we talked more and we blocked a lot better."

While thankful for the victory, Wills hopes his team can wipe out the bad habits that caused them to give up huge leads in the opening two sets.

Permian led 23-14 in the opening set and allowed Monterey to crawl back within 24-20.

Then in the second set, Permian built a 22-11 lead but allowed Monterey to pull within 23-21 with a 10-1 run before closing it out.

"Once you're up, you don't want to let them start creeping back into it," Wills said. "I think we focused a little better than we have in the past. We cut down our mistakes and that helps."