OBSERVER Staff Report

SINCLAIRVILLE — Not many teams over the last few years have challenged the Panama Panthers on the volleyball court. On Wednesday night, Cassadaga Valley put up quite a fight. In the end, back-to-back State finalist Panama still came out on top in straight sets, 25-13, 26-24, 25-22, in a high school volleyball match at Cassadaga Valley High School.

“They’re a really good team,” said Cassadaga Valley coach Denny Wakelee. “If we can hang with them, I feel good about our chances moving forward.”

Panama (2-0) ran away with the first set, but Cassadaga Valley (0-2) turned things around later on and even held a lead in the second set. Kylie Schnars and Natalie Angeletti both led the way with double digit kills for the Panthers on Wednesday. Schnars had 14 kills, three blocks and an ace, while Angeletti had 13 kills, four blocks, four digs and two aces. Maddie Johnson had a team-high 19 assists, along with four digs, an ace and a kill.

Cassadaga Valley had a strong performance from Heidi Williams, with 14 digs, four kills and an ace. Meghan LeBaron and Brielle LeBaron had identical lines of five digs, four blocks and three kills, while Hailey Dahl had four aces and four digs.

With both losses on the year to Panama to kick off the season, Cassadaga Valley looks to pick up its first win of the year tonight when the Cougars host Pine Valley.