By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Staff Writer

MARBURY – The Jemison Panther’s volleyball team traveled to Marbury on Thursday, Sept. 16, to face the Marbury Bulldogs in a big area matchup.Panthers head coach Ronnie Holsombeck said this was probably the most exciting match of the young 2016 season.

Jemison dug themselves into an early hole as the Bulldogs took game one 29-27 and game two 25-20 in large part to 30 combined errors from the visiting Panthers.

This didn’t seem to phase the team as they started out the third set red-hot when Lauren Broussard stepped up to the service line and served the Panthers to a 10-0 lead. Jemison would go on to win the set 25-19 behind Cassani Steele’s four kills, four blocks and five digs.

The fourth set was a close one with Jemison leading 21-20 when Aryn Caputo served three straight points to put the Panthers up 24-20, before winning the set 25-21. Steele added nine more kills while Camille Hague chipped in a couple of aces and five digs to help out.

“The fourth set was a back and forth affair,” Holsombeck said. “Neither team was able to gain much traction until late and luckily that was us.”

This put the Panthers one set away from winning three sets in a row to complete the comeback.

At one point in the fifth set, Hannah Northcutt had six service wins in a row to put Jemison up 13-6. The Bulldogs would try to battle back and would cut the lead to 14-11, but Jemison was just too strong late and ended up winning the deciding set 15-11.

This was a big win for Jemison as it sends their overall record above .500 at 5-4 and more importantly took their area record to 2-0.

Steele led Jemison with 23 kills and seven blocks, while Broussard and Northcutt had 15 and 9 assists respectively, and Hague led the team with 24 digs.

The Panthers host Calera, Dallas County and Chilton County next week before traveling to Shelby County High School for the SCHS Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 24.