BLANCHARDVILLE — Juda wants to be a contender in the Six Rivers East. Sitting with a 3-2 conference record near the end of the first half, the Panthers are feeling good about their prospects — especially after a three-set sweep of Pecatonica Sept. 13.

“We are working hard and we are right behind Black Hawk and Argyle. We’re right there,” Juda head coach Scott Anderson said. “We’re going to be fighting for that next step. We can cause problems and I am excited for the second half of the season.”

While the Vikings jumped out to a 9-7 lead in the first set, the Panthers saw little resistance en route to taking the first two sets 25-15 and 25-16.

“I would have liked to have seen more effort in the first two,” Pecatonica coach Brad Tisch said. “I saw fear in player’s eyes tonight. We can’t have it.”

The third set was a different story, however, with Pecatonica able to hang with Juda and then mount a big lead.

After jumping out to a 6-2 lead in the frame, the Vikings allowed Juda to go on an 8-1 run, which forced Tisch to spend a timeout. Tisch tried to motivate his players, which trailed 10-7 at the time. 

“It’s little mistakes here or there — a player taking a play off because ‘the ball’s not coming to me.’ The mentality has to be that every ball is coming your way. Whether it’s a pass, set or a hit. That’s got to be the mentality,” Tisch said.

The Vikings listened to their coach and rattled off a 13-4 run to go up 20-14 after a spike kill by senior Sami Holmstrom. Holmstrom had five of her six kills in the set.

“Someone has to have a little more of that killer instinct — or at least that instinct of ‘I want to win, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to finish.’ We see little bits of it here and there,” Tisch said.

Trailing 22-16, the Panthers mounted their own comeback, eventually taking the lead at 25-24 after an ace by Montana Steinmann. Holmstrom scored on a spike on the next volley to even the score and the two teams traded side-outs until a tip kill and a Vikings return that fell inches out of bounds ended the set at 29-27 and the match at 3-0.

“At the end there it was point for point. Neither side was blinking much. I was really proud how mentally tough we were coming back there to get back to 25-all. Then we were just alternating the side outs, which was a big deal for us,” Anderson said. “We are not tall. I’d love to tell you we are fast but we’re not quite. But we are mentally tough. We play every ball. We find a way to put even arm out to keep it to our hitters and we keep the other team out of sync.”

Steinmann finished with nine assists, 15 digs and three kills for Juda, which also got 12 digs from Paige Price, 14 digs and five kills from Triniti Elmer, two blocks from Brianna Crull and nine kills from Hannah Powers. Anderson said his unsung heroes of the match were Karlee Kesler, who finished with 10 digs and eight assists, and Taylor Golackson, who had four aces and 14 digs. As a team, the Panthers finished with 82 digs.

“I thought Taylor Golackson on the outside played extremely well and was finding her places,” Anderson said. “I was really proud of how my girls kept balls in play. We are a dig-first team. We had over 70 digs again tonight.”

Pecatonica’s Sydney Eaton had 13 assists, eight digs and two kills, Val Carr had three aces and Lily Busser had 16 digs.

“I would like to see a team that is not scared as it goes down to the wire. That’s what they have to figure out. I think that’s a life lesson — how to handle the stress when you’re getting scared. I hope they figure it out at an early stage and not later,” Tisch said. “We are a young team. We have two freshmen starting. This isn’t something you’re born with. For us we have to learn it.”