By By PETER WILLIAMS, Staff Writer
Northside High School rallied back from an early defeat to take the next three sets and a win against Washington High School in Northside’s volleyball season opener Wednesday.
New Panther coach Tami Wagaman praised the spirit of her team against the 3-A county rival.
Wagaman built a winning tradition at Southside and transferred to the other side of the river this year with 1-A Northside.
Northside (1-0) won an average of three games a year for the last six years, so the win over Washington (0-2) was significant for Wagaman.
Washington started off strong in the first match, running up a 13-3 lead on the serves of sophomore Blaklee Wolfe. The Pam pack ran the lead to 21-7 at point, but Northside fought. The final score was Washington 25, Northside 19.
In the second game, the early action was much closer. At one point Northside held a 14-13 lead but outscored Washington 8-1 at one point to gain the edge and finally won by a score of 25-16.
In the third game, Washington held a 12-8 lead at one point, but Northside fought back to tie it 21-21 with Ashley Kirk serving. The Panthers ended up winning that one 25-23.
Washington was troubled by injures and coach Michelle Cetner had nobody on the bench to give her starters a rest. Four more players should be back for the next game, but two of the players playing Wednesday were brought up from the jayvee squad.
In the final game, the wear and tear on the Washington player started to show. Northside ran up a 21-8 lead and ended up winning 25-10.
Lauren Rodriquez, a senior, led the Panthers with eight aces and Tiffany Jackson had six kills. Both Jackson and Lauren Fletcher had four aces.
Cetner had help from Amber Alligood, who was a newcomer at setter. Racheal Toler, a sophomore and Sara Nicholls, a freshman were also brought up from the jayvee team so Cetner could field six players Wednesday.
The Pam Pack and Panthers haven’t played in years, and Wednesday’s game is the only one between the two on the schedule this year.
In the jayvee game, Northside won the first match 25-15, but Washington came back and won the second 25-23. Northside won the third match 25-20.
Jazzmin Gibbs led Washington with 17 service points, three aces and two kills. Haley Hiatt had 10 service points, two aces and two kills. Brandi Hardison had 10 service points and two aces.
Northside plays again at home Aug. 28 against Plymouth.
Washington plays again Tuesday against D.H. Conley at home.