OHS’ Lady Panthers fall to Buffalo in tight match

Buffalo’s Kelsey Canady digs out a tough hit from the Lady Panthers. Photo by Melissa Missildine It was a tight match from beginning to end between the BHS Lady Bison and the OHS Lady Panthers in Oakwood on Tuesday night. After taking three of the four sets, the BHS girls took home the win.

Buffalo had handled the Lady Panthers in three straight games the first time the teams met, but the Oakwood girls put up a better fight this week. The first set was 25-to-14, going to the Lady Bison. The second BHS win, 25-to-19, put the Lady Panthers in a must-win situation and they responded well, taking the next game 25-20. The Lady Bison came back and took the match with a 25-to-11 win in Game 4.

Raven Lott had 10 kills for BHS, followed by Kelsey Canady with 9, and Samantha Atkinson with 6. Atkinson had 5 blocks to led in that category, and Emily Grissett and Lott blocked one each. Shelby Ballard contributed 21 assists and TiOnna Adams set for 8 assists. At the serving line Adams had 5 aces, Reagan Read had 4, and Canady, Ballard and Lindsey McGill contributed 3 aces apiece. McGill also had 17 digs.

Felicia Williams led the Oakwood effort, picking up 7 blocks for the night, 2 service aces, and 3 kills. Christina Hudson also had 5 blocks to go with her 3 service aces, a dig, and 2 kills. Ashley Owens also had a real nice kill in this game and Anissia Dawson had an awesome service ace.

The Lady Panthers played at Cayuga Friday night and will host the Lady Elks on Tuesday at 4:30.

Buffalo’s Varsity will host Lovelady Tuesday beginning at 5:00 and the JV and Varsity teams travel to Mildred on Friday to start district play. Senior transfer student Alex Jenkins will finally be suiting up with the varsity on Tuesday, and will be a welcome addition to the lineup.

“District’s gonna be a tough, uphill battle,” acknowledged Head Coach Daryl Skelton. “We going to have to show up and play every night.”