The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Lady Panthers away team made sure that their first Panthers Independence Volleyball Tournament ladies’ title stayed within their club.

The Lady Panthers away team, comprising of players who are currently off to school, pulled off a hard fought 25-16, 16-25, 25-23 and 25-23 victory over the New Providence Volleyball Association’s perennial queens, Scottsdale Vixens at the DW Davis Gym yesterday. Their win came right after the Lady Panthers home team, featuring players who are based at home, fell victim to the Johnson Lady Truckers in the third place consolation game.

The men’s feature game for the other title was scheduled to be played between the Scotiabank Defenders and the Expendables, who both finished the tournament with identical 6-2 win-loss records. However, no scores were available up to press time last night.

The younger Lady Panthers teams were coached by tournament organiser Jason Saunders, who had their hands full against the more experienced Vixens, but they were determined to win the tournament that they hosted in memory of one of their former players Tamez Thompson.

“I think we played a great game, even though that wasn’t our full team,” said Deveaux, who attends Bluefield State College. “We are missing our setter and another player who is off to school, but we came together and we got the victory.”

Deveaux said from the time she started playing night league volleyball in 2012, she was with the Panthers, who encouraged her to pursue the sport with the vie of playing at the collegiate level.

Deveaux, a five-foot, 11-inch middle player and her college team-mate Brittany Bonimy, a 5-9 outside hitter, provided a 1-2 punch up front for the Lady Panthers, who also got some big plays from Avani Seymour and Janell Curtis.

The Panthers away team and the Vixens both finished the round robin at 7-1. In the playoffs on Saturday night, the Panthers away team prevailed with a 21-25, 25-8, 15-11 win over the Truckers, while the Vixens got by the Panthers home team 25-17, 21-25, 15-12.

The Vixens, relying on a pair of sisters combo, including Krystel Rolle-Brown and Cheryse Rolle-Bain and Tia Wilson, gave the Lady Panthers away team a run for their money. But in the end, the experience wasn’t enough to secure the win.

“The tournament was a good tournament and I think if we had time to practice and we had our full team, we would have definitely pulled it off,” Rolle-Bain said. “Even with the team that we had, I felt we could have still beat them, but we had some mental lapses and that caused us down the stretch.”

Rolle-Bain, the wife of quarter-miler Andretti Bain, said they would like to play the Lady Panthers away team again because “we’re never scared.”

The Lady Truckers, coached by Covance Mortimer, were not scared either when they took on the Lady Panthers home team. In fact, Truckers’ power hitter Kelsie Johnson said they had something in store for their youthful rivals.

“It’s a friendly rivalry going on with the Panthers volleyball club and the old Vixens team,” Johnson said. “We had a friendly little discussion today on Facebook saying which team is better. We, the Truckers and the Vixens vowed that we must win the third place and the gold medal because we couldn’t let the Lady Panthers win everything.”

After falling behind 8-1 in the third and deciding set, the Truckers regrouped and slowly worked their way back in the game to go up 13-11 and eventually held off the Lady Panthers for the win.

“The game is never over until it’s over and that is what I keep preaching to our players even in the regular season,” Johnson said. “This is a good warm up for us when we go to the regular season and we play a team like the Vixens and we are down, we can show that no matter how far down you are, you can rally back up.”

Johnson got some help from Davia Moss, while Chandra Mackey, Mechelle Moss and Tarea Sweeting led the way for the Lady Panthers.

Perry Thompson, father of the late Tamez Thompson, said they are forever grateful for the love and support that they have consistently gotten from the volleyball community.

“It’s amazing to see the amount of lives that Tamez touched in the sport of volleyball and in her personal life at the age of 26,” Perry Thompson said. “What the volleyball association has done and now Jason Saunders through this tournament to keep her memory alive is phenomenal and my hat goes off to everybody who has assisted us as a family during our ordeal.”