By Terry Wills Jr
In a Tuesday night clash, the Clark Atlanta Panthers faced off against the
Fort Valley State Wildcats at Clark Atlanta's Epps Gymnasium
The Panthers entered the game with an overall record of (8-6) and were
looking for their first home win. Riding a two-game win streak, the Panthers
welcomed a (5-11) Wildcats squad who are coming off a disappointing loss to
Benedict College. This game was no walk in the park for the Panthers as they lost
the first two sets of the match. With their backs against the wall, the Panthers
rallied together and pulled off an amazing comeback defeating the Wildcats 3-2
giving everyone in attendance at Epps Gymnasium an instant classic.
The team is led by Head Coach Ashley Johnson, and before the game started
I got a chance to ask her how important it is to win tonight to build consistency
moving forward. Coach Johnson stated, "It is very important because we play
Savannah State and Edward Waters University later this week and these are big
games that will allow us to clinch the number one or two spots in the East, which is
what we need heading into the conference tournament in November". As you can
see, tonight's game is huge so I asked Coach Johnson what the keys to victory are
and she replied with "Continuity and Hustle" as her team has been displaying that
which has been the driving force of the two-game win streak.
The Panthers started the 1st set by jumping out to a 6-2 lead, which was
short-lived because the Wildcats scored the next 8 of 11 points. The Panthers kept it tight throughout the 1st set thanks to kills from Makayla Murphy and Lauryn Terry, but the Panthers ultimately lost the set 25-23.
At the beginning of the 2nd set, the Panthers were shooting themselves in the
foot as they had a few errors, which helped the Wildcats jump out to a 12-7 lead.
The Wildcats ran with the lead until the Panthers brought the score within two but
still lost the set 25-22.
Down but not out, the Panthers came out in the 3rd set and battled. Kills
from Kiara Finley and Lauryn Terry sparked the beginning of an epic comeback as
the Panthers won a close 3rd set 25-21.
As the 4th set began, the Panthers hoped to tie up the game, but the Wildcats came out and started strong, and the Panthers found themselves down 5-1. The Panthers showed brilliant resilience, and they scored 17 of the following 24 points thanks to a few aces from Kia Thomas and kills from Makayla Murphy, Kiara Finley, Lauryn Terry, as well as Kia Thomas. The Panthers finished the set strong and won 25-18.
The last set was upon us, and the Panthers had their fans on the edge of their
seats asking themselves, "Can they do it? Can they pull off the comeback?" The
answer is yes! With neither team wanting to lose, the Panthers and Wildcats went
back and forth as the Panthers had a slim 11-9 lead. The Panthers finished off the
Wildcats and won the final set 15-10.
After the epic comeback win, I asked Lauryn Terry who finished the game
with 11 kills, what changes did her team make to pull off the comeback win and she
said: "We had to be more aggressive, The Wildcats were a scrappy team which lead
to unpredictable balls, and we couldn't give up on any points, so we had to push
harder". Not only was it an amazing come-from-behind victory, but this is the
Panthers' first home win, and Lauryn said this win feels good as it was her first
home win since Freshman year.
Kiara Finley led the Panthers with 13 kills and finished the game with two aces
and one block. Makayla Murphy added seven kills, an ace and two blocks, and Miara Bolden added seven with an ace and four blocks.
The (9-6) Panthers are red hot, and they will be riding a three-game win streak
into Savannah, GA, on Friday to face off against the Savannah State Tigers.