ALBERTON – The Alberton Lady Panthers faced defeat in three sets during Saturday’s game against the Drummond Lady Trojans.

The game was dedicated to October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Lady Panthers all wore pink socks as part of their uniforms and many had pink headbands on. Throughout the game cakes and pies, featuring pink frosting and decorated with variations of the breast cancer support ribbon, made by Alberton students were raffled off. Raffle tickets were sold alongside admission and concession.

As the game began, it took a while for the Lady Panthers to fully get into the swing of the game and several points were lost to Drummond early in the first set. While the girls played well, Drummond seemed to have a stronger defense and covered holes really well. In the first two matches, the Lady Panthers were defeated by over 10 points. In the second match, however, Alberton was able to close the gap.

The Lady Panthers recovered in their third set and began to turn the game around. throughout the third game Alberton was rarely behind by more than three points and was able to tie the score, even pulling ahead often. According to Head Coach Hannah Anderson the third set was definitely their best with a final score of 25-19.

“We really pulled it together and came out strong,” said Anderson. “They played as a team and did a fantastic job [in] that third game.”

While the team as a whole played well there were some Alberton players whose performances were especially noteworthy.

Senior Rebecca Brae was on the court for most of the game and played a really well. Anderson cited her as having over 20 digs over the course of the game.

Senior Hailie Bahm also received Anderson’s praise for her aces, digs, blocks and assists. Anderson described her as “an all-around fantastic player.” She also said that Senior Ryan Vicek also got a lot of assists and was “all over the floor” during the game.

Anderson said the Lady Panthers played really well and were always playing as a team. She noted that the girls really came together and played their strongest at the end of the match.

“That third game was definitely our best one for the night,” Anderson said.

The Lady Panthers did not get much time to recover and work on strategy and improvements after Saturday’s game. Alberton played at St. Regis, against the Lady Tigers on Monday and had another home game against the Lincoln Lady Lynxes on Tuesday.

Anderson said the team will need to work on their defensive coverage and need to come out strong at the start of a game. It is Anderson’s goal to continue the team’s trend of improving after every game and she hopes to continue that goal at their future games.

The Lady Panthers’ next match will be a home game on Tuesday, October 22 against the Darby Lady Tigers.