It's been nearly two years since the Tompkins Cortland Community College volleyball team has taken the floor. It was worth the wait. On Wednesday the Panthers opened the 2021 season with a thrilling five-set win over Onondaga Community College, 25-17, 17-25, 25-18, 14-25, 15-8.

The Panthers came from behind in each of their winning sets. The season opened with the Panthers trailing early before three straight service points by Adrianna Royce (Newfield/Newfield H.S.) settled things down and put the Panthers in front for the first time at 6-5. The lead went back and forth before the Panthers took a four-point lead at 17-13. After Onondaga closed the lead to 17-16, the Panthers closed out the set by scoring eight of the last nine points for the 25-17 win.

The roles were reversed in the second set, with the home team jumping out to an 11-4 lead before Onondaga rallied late. With the Panthers leading 15-10, the Lazers scored nine straight as part of a 15-2 run to close out the set and even the match.

Set three was tight early, but Onondaga slowly moved ahead. The score was 16-9 in favor of the Lazers when the Panthers called a timeout. Coming out of the stoppage, the Panthers responded by scoring seven straight points, sparked by another big service string that included a pair of aces from Royce. The score remained tied as the teams traded points before Hope Comfort (Cortland/Homer H.S.) stepped to the service line and served out the set with seven straight points.  

Onondaga evened the match with a decisive win in the fourth set, jumping ahead early and holding a comfortable lead the whole way, setting the stage for the winner-take-all fifth set. The finale opened with the Lazers scoring the first three points, but the Panthers responded with three straight to tie it at 3-3. Onondaga scored the next four, prompting a Tompkins Cortland timeout. After the Panthers earned a side-out to make the score 7-4, Madison Kelly (Moravia/Moravia H.S.) rotated to the service line and proceeded to rip off eight straight points, putting the Panthers in control at 12-7. After the teams traded service breaks, Comfort closed out the win with the final two service points.

Kelly led the attack with 12 kills to go with 3 digs, 2 blocks, and 2 aces. Comfort had 11 kills, 3 aces, and a dig and Arianna Manwaring (Tioga/Tioga Central H.S.) finished with 6 kill and 3 blocks. Royce led the team with 17 assists and 6 aces, with Ashley Hoyte (Dryden/Dryden H.S.) handing out 10 assists along with 3 aces and 3 digs. Nikya Cook (Cortland/Dryden H.S.) chipped in 4 digs, 2 kills, and an ace.

Looking ahead

The Panthers play at Finger Lakes Community College on Saturday.