In the 30 years since then — with Mayville and now Chautauqua Lake Central School — Meadows has won 13 Section VI Championships, 17 divisional titles and two New York State Public High School championships.

On Wednesday night, she was able to add to her impressive resume by joining the 500-win club.

“When I started coaching, it was my goal to get to 500 wins,” Meadows said. “I was never focused on a team, but the program. So many people were here I coached on my original year, that’s fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for a better job or better place to be coaching all this time.”

With the way the schedule worked out, Meadows and her Thunderbirds would have to beat a strong opponent in Panama to get the landmark victory. It turned out Chautauqua Lake (2-0, 2-0) was up for the task, defeating Panama (2-1, 1-1) in four sets 26-24, 20-25, 25-15, 25-13 in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West action and set the Thunderbirds’ crowd into a frenzy.

Photo by Deb Bailey Chautauqua Lake’s Hannah Group eyes a spike during Thursday’s CCAA volleyball match against Panama in Mayville.

“This year, I looked at the schedule and said ‘Oh my gosh, my 500th win could be against Panama,'” Meadows said. “That was a huge thing to me. I didn’t say anything to the kids and didn’t want anything out in the public, but it’s a small town and it was out in the public.”

From the first set to the last, it was a battle for every point between the two teams. In the opening set, Chautauqua Lake trailed 22-19 after surrendering a five-point run and called a timeout to slow the Panthers momentum.

Meadows’ timeout worked like a charm as the Thunderbirds were able to rally together to win the opening set 26-24.

After a slow start in the second set, Panama rattled off late runs to secure its only victory of the night at 25-20. However, when the Panthers’ lead reached 22-15, Chautauqua Lake began to gain momentum again, but it was too late for a comeback.

Chautauqua Lake’s momentum did carry into the third set for a dominant victory where Panama scored consecutive points just once for a four-point run.

Photo by Deb Bailey Fans celebrate after Chautauqua Lake beat Panama in CCAA volleyball Thursday in Mayville, giving Thunderbirds head coach Joanne Meadows her 500th career win.

In the fourth and final set, Panama started slow again and fell behind 18-11 before calling a timeout. Win No. 500 was just seven points away and looked to be a sure thing, then the Panthers began to rally. Panama scored two runs of three and a four point run that tied the score at 23-23.

“Even if one team got a little bit of a lead the other team got back in,” Meadows said. “There was never a time where you could relax, so that’s what volleyball should be like. It was a really fun game and both teams played really hard right to the end.”

However, that’s where the Panama rally died and Chautauqua Lake scored the next two points to win 25-23 and delivered Meadows her 500th victory which saw the crowd erupt with excitement and shot confetti in celebration.

“I just want to thank the community for all the support for 500 wins,” Meadows said. “It’s been a long time, but it’s been really fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to be.”

The Thunderbirds’ winning effort was led by Ava Olson with nine kills, two aces, 14 digs and 15 assists; Brynn Engdahl with seven kills, two aces and 16 digs; Mallory Morrison with 16 assists, eights digs, an ace and a block; Hannah Group with 10 kills and three digs; Alex Reyda with seven kills and three blocks and Jenna Waters had 34 digs.

Photo by Deb Bailey Joanne Meadows, center, is pictured with former players, from left: Dena Waters, Michaeline Rizzo and Jill Gerring.

Panama was led by Mandy Brink with 23 digs, 23 assists, a kill and an ace; Jo Bailey had 15 kills and five blocks; Sarah Harvey had 15 digs and 11 kills; Lilly Odell had 19 digs, six kills and an ace and Kylie Morgan had five blocks and two kills.