Panthers on 4-game win streak heading into Regionals
By Fred Kroner
The St. Joseph seventh-grade volleyball team hit its stride late in the season and carries a four-match winning streak into an IESA Class 3A regional championship match.
The Panthers won their final two regular-season matches, defeating Mahomet-Seymour on Tuesday (Feb. 20) 23-25, 25-20, 25-19, and Mary Miller on Thursday (Feb. 22) 25-9, 25-16.
Second-seeded St. Joseph then opened postseason play on Saturday (Feb. 24) and handled Paxton-Buckley-Loda for the second time in 11 days 25-4, 25-18 in the quarterfinals on the Panthers own home court.
On Tuesday (Feb. 27), St. Joseph upended seventh-seeded Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, 25-14, 25-20, in the regional semifinals.
The team has an overall record of 16-7 and is 4-2 in matches that required three sets. The Panthers have won eight of their last 10 matches.
The championship against fourth-seeded Oakwood will be played at 6 p.m. on Wednesday (Feb. 28) in St. Joseph. When the schools played in the regular season, the Panthers registered a three-set victory.
