Lady Panthers advance to third consecutive Elite Eight, sweep Johnson-Augusta

Blairsville, Georgia- The Union County Panthers volleyball team Hosted Johnson-Augusta in the Sweet Sixteen of the GHSA State Playoffs.

1st Set

The Panthers started the set on a 4-0 run to gain control of the set right out of the gate. Johnson would come back and cut the lead to 1 but the Panthers would go on a quick 3-0 run to force Johnson to call timeout. The Panthers went on a 6-0 run after the timeout to extend their lead to 13-3. Following multiple mistakes by the Panthers, Johnson went on a 9-3 run to cut the Panther lead to 16-15. After Johnson cut the lead to 1, the Panthers went on a 4-0 run to force another timeout. Johnson wouldn’t go out without a fight and made things close until the end. The Panthers would go on to win 25-20 to win the first set.

2nd Set

To begin the 2nd set, the Panthers got off to a hot start again. The Panthers got out to a 9-3 lead early in the set. Johnson was having a hard time scoring and keeping up with the Panthers in the second set. The Panthers led 17-5 which forced Johnson to call timeout. Following the timeout, Johnson scored 2 quick points but the Panthers found their rhythm again and extended their lead to 21-7. The Panthers scored 4 straight points to win the second set 25-7.

3rd Set

The Panthers dominated this set from start to finish. The Panthers got out to an early 5-1 lead that forced Johnson to use their first timeout. Johnson was having a tough time keeping up with the Panthers in this set. Johnson trailed 13-5 towards the middle of the set. Johnson cut the lead to 14-10 but couldn’t pull off the huge comeback. The Panthers dominated the rest of the set to win the last set 25-13 and swept Johnson to advance to the Elite Eight. The Panthers will host Dade County on Wednesday October 28.