Whitman-Hanson defeated by Bishop Feehan

The Panthers traveled to face Bishop Feehan in the second round of the tournament after earning a first round bye as the 5th seed in Division 1 South. Despite strong play by the Panthers they were unable to put together enough points to win the match against a tough Bishop Feehan team. Bishop Feehan started out in the first set with a strong attack and that attack helped carry them through the match to win 3-0. The Panthers were pushed back onto their heels by the big hitters from Bishop Feehan early but once the Panthers got back on their toes they made Bishop Feehan work hard for every point they earned. Bishop Feehan capitalized on any Panther mistakes by driving the game at the Panthers with their hitters earning several big kills. In the second set the Panthers were able to get out to an early lead and carried the momentum towards the end of the set thanks to great play out of the middle by Sophie O'Brien and Halle Julian along with solid serving from Chiara Cassiano. The set turned on a block that was called out off Sophie O'Brien that led to Bishop Feehan closing out the set with a run of several points. In the third set the Panthers were pushed back on their heels again by several big hits but they refused to back down and rallied to push Bishop Feehan until the last points. In the end the Bishop Feehan attack was more than the Panthers could keep up with and Bishop Feehan won the match. The Panthers were led tonight by their seniors who showed consistent leadership and drive throughout the season. Leading the Panthers tonight were O'Brien with 7 kills and 4 blocks; Sophia Raiche with 25 serve receives and 10 digs and Julian with 5 kills and 5 blocks.