The Alberton Lady Panthers are on the prowl in Western 14C volleyball.

Just three games into the 2023 Class C volleyball season and the Panthers are making it known they are for real.

Alberton opened their season Aug. 31 with 3-0 sweep of Two Eagle River on the Lady Eagles home court.

Then this past Thursday, they knocked off conference foe St. Regis 3-1 to run their conference record to 2-0.

Saturday they were brought back to the upper limits of the stratosphere by traditional powerhouse Drummond when they were swept by the visiting Lady Trojans 3-0.

First things first.

Last year the Lady Panthers won three games for the season, all three being victories over Two Eagle River. They kept that trend alive with 25-19, 25-8 and 25-15 set wins to record the 3-0 sweep in Pablo.

Lacy Zimmerman had an outstanding game for Alberton in the win over TER, registering 17 service aces, three kills and one block for the game. Teammate Radleen Czerp-Davis had seven services aces, while Anna Dao chipped in three service winners, two blocks and one dig for the Lady Panthers.

Georgia Fredette had two service aces, one kill, one assist and one block to aid the Alberton effort.

The Lady Panthers opened their home season this past Thursday with a match against visiting St. Regis and came out on top of a hard-fought four set match. Alberton won the first set 25-21, but the Lady Tigers took the second set 25-22 to square the match at one game each.

But the Lady Panthers cranked it up a notch in the third set, winning 25-13 to grab a 2-1 match lead.

The fourth set was a hard-fought battle that went to the volleyball equivalent of overtime before the Panthers pulled away for a 27-25 win that clinched the 3-1 match victory.

Zimmerman had a monster match against St. Regis, racking up 14 kills to go with four aces, two blocks and eight digs.

Czerp-Davis led the Lady Panthers with seven service aces, while Dao paced Alberton with 11 digs.

The win moved Alberton to 2-0 on the young season as they welcomed Drummond to town Saturday evening.

This match was all Drummond, as the Lady Trojans scored a 3-0 sweep with 25-14, 25-11 and 25-9 set wins. Zimmerman had another solid game for the Lady Panthers, with one ace, four kills, two blocks and three digs. Fredette added four kills, one assist, one block and seven digs but it was not enough to overcome the all-around Drummond attack. Drummond left town with a 5-0 record, while Alberton dropped to 2-1.

Panther coach Dana Smith took the loss in stride after two strong showings by her team versus TER and St. Regis.

“While my girls lost tonight (vs Drummond) but they played tough,” Smith said. “They faced a strong team in Drummond and saw some great offense. The girls held their heads high and didn’t give up. On to the next!”

Alberton’s next match is a home game versus Hot Springs this Thursday evening (September 14).