Panthers sweep Dade County, advance to 2nd consecutive Final Four

Blairsville, Georgia- The Union County Panthers volleyball team hosted Dade County in the Elite Eight of the GHSA State Playoffs.

1st Set

The Panthers took an early 5-2 lead but Dade County fought back and cut the Panther lead to one, 6-5. The Panthers extended their lead to 9-5 and forced a Dade County timeout. As the Panthers were dominating early on, extending their lead to 18-12, Dade County stormed back to tie the set at 18. After being tied 20-20, the Panthers went on a 5-1 run and won the set 25-21. The Panthers faced a lot of adversity in this set but overcame it and won the set. The Panthers will need to overcome a lot of adversity from now on because of the level of competition they will be playing against.

2nd Set

The Panthers went up 4-1 quick and forced Dade County to call a timeout very early in the set. The Panthers dominated early in the set again, leading 7-3. Dade County stormed back for the second set in a row and cut the early Panther lead to one, 7-6. Dade County tied the game at 7 and took their first lead 8-7. The Panthers were forced to call a timeout. The Panthers were making a lot of mistakes and found theirselves trailing 14-9. Kaylee Ashcraft put the team on her back and put the Panthers back into the set. The Panthers came back and took a 16-15 lead. The set was tied 19-19 late and the scoring was going back and forth. The Panthers faced even more adversity in this set than the 1st set and battled back to win it 25-23.

3rd set

Both teams battled it out to begin the set. Dade County had their backs to the wall, and it was win or go home for them. The Panthers knew they were one set away from getting back to the Final Four. The Panthers took an early 7-3 lead. Dade County came back to tie it at 7. The Panthers went on a 4-0 run after that to take an 11-7 lead that forced a Dade County timeout. The Panthers went up 18-11 to take a commanding lead late in the set and to force another Dade County timeout. Following the timeout, the Panthers went on a 7-2 run to beat Dade County 25-13 and advance to their 2nd consecutive Final Four. The Panthers will face Pace Academy on Saturday @ Lakepoint Sports Champions Center.