Panthers Volleyball Goes 3-0 at Adirondack Pod

Erin Harkenrider
Erin Harkenrider

Saturday was a pretty good day for the Tompkins Cortland Community College volleyball team. For the first time since Region III instituted pod play that features each team playing three different opponents on one day, the Panthers went undefeated. Tompkins Cortland won all three matches by scores of 3-1, beating SUNY Adirondack, Hudson Valley Community College, and North Country Community College. The wins improve the Panthers to 7-6 overall and 6-5 in Region III.

The day started against a very good Adirondack squad that came in to the match with a season-long record of 8-3. Adirondack took the opening set 25-15, but the Panthers stepped up and took the next three by scores of 25-17, 27-25, and 25-23.

The next match was against Hudson Valley. This time Tompkins Cortland took the opening two sets, 25-23 and 25-19, before Hudson Valley took the third set 25-21. The Panthers closed out the win with a 25-23 fourth set.

The capper for the day came against North Country. After winning the opening set 25-12, the Panthers dropped an epic set two by a score of 35-33. The third and fourth sets went to Tompkins Cortland 26-24 and 25-18.

The three-win day featured contributions from the entire nine-player roster. Floor general Amanda Green (Lansing/Lansing H.S.) filled up the stat sheet with 72 assists, 12 aces, 7 digs, and 6 kills. Jade VanWagenen (McGraw/McGraw H.S.) had a team-best 37 kills to go along with 4 aces. Ashley Smith (Lansing/Lansing H.S.) had 27 kills, 4 aces, 3 digs and 2 assists. Erin Harkenrider (Dryden/Dryden H.S.) had career-highs of 25 kills and 7 aces, and Jasmine Pooler (Moravia/Moravia H.S.) had 15 digs, 10 assists, and 7 aces. Megan Ball (Dryden/Dryden H.S.) fired five aces while Jessica Kenyon (Cortland/Cortland H.S.), Samantha Whitehead (Deposit/Deposit H.S.), and Tiffanie White (Queens/George Washington Carver H.S.) each contributed digs.

Next on the schedule for the Panthers is a Region III pod at Jamestown Community College on Saturday, September 29. The Panthers will take on the Jayhawks, Erie Community College, and Niagara County Community College.