First-place Panthers sweep LC

The Mead Panthers never flinched.

They haven’t all season, and judging by Tuesday night, it doesn’t look like they are going to any time soon.

Alexis Olgard had a match-high 11 kills and five blocks and Amanda Dahlstrom finished with eight kills and 13 digs as the Panthers rolled to a three-game Greater Spokane League sweep of the Tigers at Lewis and Clark in a rematch of last year’s State 4A title match.

“I’m happy with it,” said Mead coach Judy Kight, whose Panthers have all but secured the regular-season title.

“We had some lows, but I thought we got back without giving away too much.”

The Tigers (8-2) played the Panthers (8-0) tightly in the first game, which Mead won 25-20.

Leading 9-7, Mead’s Meg Ryan served a string of four points as the Panthers went on an 8-4 run to take an 18-12 lead.

The Tigers made one final push with Mead leading 23-17.

Steady Mead setter Karyn Mockel’s serve sailed long and LC’s Oceana Bush saved 6-foot-5 standout sophomore Olgard’s hard-hit shot down the line before finishing the point with a kill.

LC’s final point came on a Mead carry before an LC hitting error and Olgard kill out of the back row secured the first game for the Panthers.

Ryan served the first 11 points of the second game as the Tigers found themselves in an inescapable hole.

The Panthers didn’t complete their rotation, and five servers led Mead to a 25-8 win in the middle game.

“We just got down by too much, too many serve-receive and hitting errors,” LC coach Julie Yearout said.

The third game was even tighter than the first, as the Tigers led for the first time in the match at 7-6.

Junior Chloe Rowand served two aces in a five-point run before Mead caught up at 12-all.

The Tigers held off two match points before Emma Olgard killed the final point and Mead took the game 25-21.

“It’s perfect timing,” Kight said. “To go through the Crossover (Classic) and to win this one – it’s a great scenario right before the playoffs.”

LC’s Laurie Yearout finished with seven kills, 16 assists and two aces to lead the Tigers.

“I’m still proud,” Julie Yearout said. “We played a lot harder from beginning to end and with more passion and competitiveness than we’ve seen so far this season.

“Mead played great.”

The four-time defending state champion Panthers play again tonight at University. A win would secure at least a share of the league title. Their final match is Thursday when they host North Central.

The District 8 4A tournament begins Tuesday. The championship match is scheduled for Oct. 27.

Elsewhere in the GSL, Amie DeWolf had 12 kills and a block and Lindsay Labenne finished with 19 digs in Mt. Spokane’s 25-22, 29-27, 25-20 victory over visiting Central Valley (3-6). Paula Jennings led CV at the net with six kills and three blocks and Shannon Giusti finished with 16 assists and 12 digs. Jordon Hoffnagle had 13 assists for Mt. Spokane (7-2). … Brianne Brown had 10 kills, Lindsay Niemeier finished with 25 assists and Shadle Park (8-1) topped visiting East Valley 25-10, 25-11, 20-25, 25-7. Kelsey Kurtz led EV (5-4) with 21 assists and 14 digs. … Shelby Wendt swatted 13 kills and sophomore Haylee Brown had 30 assists and served 13 aces as Gonzaga Prep (2-7) took down the host North Central Indians 27-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-11. The Bullpups’ Claire Hopkins collected 23 kills. NC’s (2-7) Nicole Graybeal led all players with 18 kills. … Carianna Rath had five kills and 10 digs and Joselle Spiers finished with 23 assists as the Ferris Saxons (1-8) topped the host Rogers Pirates 25-7, 25-18, 25-13. Ferris freshman Kiley Kamitomo led all players with five aces. Kelly Bussard and Rochelle Griffith combined for six kills to lead the Pirates (0-9).