The Thunderbirds also graduated seven seniors who were the focal points of those teams.

Panama took advantage Wednesday night.

The Panthers rallied from a first-set hole to beat Chautauqua Lake 17-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-22 in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West action at Panama Central School.

“I knew it would be a tough match. … I can guarantee the team you saw tonight is not going to be the same team they see the next time we play them,” Chautauqua Lake head coach Joanne Meadows said. ” … That’s a tough ‘Welcome to varsity.’ We’re young. I knew it would be tough. It’s a nice wake-up call for them.”

OBSERVER Photo by Matt Spielman Chautauqua Lake’s Karagan Fairbank goes up for a spike as teammate Noli Paddock looks on during Wednesday’s match at Panama.

Panama was the last team to beat Chautauqua Lake in league play back on April 6, 2021.

“Every year, you really don’t know what to expect. We have three jayvee players coming up starting. … We have a sophomore setter. You just don’t know how things are going to go,” Panama head coach Tammy Hosier said. “To be honest, this was a good test for us. … They were good teammates and they stayed together.”

Senior Sarah Harvey stepped up for Panama on Wednesday, finishing with 14 kills to go along with 14 digs.

“She’s just improved so much. … All of my seniors have improved,” Hosier said. “Sarah is hitting consistently. We need to get her the ball as much as we can.”

Harvey came alive in the second set. Chautauqua Lake led 8-7, but a serve into the net gave the ball back to Panama. Seniors Kylie Range and Steph Hovey then served for six of the next seven points to give the Panthers a 14-8 lead.

Harvey finished off four of the points during the run.

“We had 30 hitting errors. … That’s not going to beat anybody. Panama started out a little bit slow and we maybe thought that was how they played,” Meadows said. ” … They scored a couple and we looked young. … I think that’s something that’s going to get better.”

The Thunderbirds never got closer than five points the rest of the set, which ended when Chautauqua Lake sent a serve long.

Panama jumped out to a 5-1 lead with sophomore Kiera Loberg at the service line to start the third set. The lead ballooned to as many as 12 at 23-11 and the Panthers took a 2-1 lead in the match when a Thunderbirds’ spike went long on set point.

“In the next game, we hit one or two out and it turned into adrenaline where we are just cranking the ball and it’s going long and out of bounds,” Meadows said.

The fourth set was the most competitive of the night, but it started on a sour note when Panama senior Sharayah Fuller was injured on the first point after coming together with a Chautauqua Lake player at the net. Despite jumping out to another 6-1 lead, the Panthers were shaken and the Thunderbirds eventually took a 9-8 lead on spike from eighth-grader Noli Paddock.

“With a teammate getting hurt … I knew we were going to struggle for a little bit there. They ended up getting hesitant and just weren’t covering,” Hosier said. ” … After the last timeout, they went back in and started to play better.”

Neither team led by more than two points through the middle of the set until Chautauqua Lake took a 19-16 lead. Panama rallied thanks to multiple errors from the Thunderbirds to tie the set at 20-all before junior Kaitlyn Horton put together a service string to give her team a 24-21 lead capped by a putaway from Loberg.

A service error gave the ball back to Chautauqua Lake, but the Panthers put the game away with the next point, which came fittingly on the final kill of the night from Harvey.

“We could be down a million points and I always feel like we have a chance. I definitely thought maybe we could take that fourth set,” Meadows said. “If that second game and fourth game were reversed, I’d be worried. But that improvement from the second set to the fourth set, I’m pretty happy about that.”

The Thunderbirds put together a string of three straight points to go up 11-8 after the first set was tied 8-all in the early going. Olson capped the run with a set over the net on her team’s second hit that fell into a soft spot in the Panama defense. That was Chautauqua Lake’s most consistent offense of the evening as Olson finished with seven kills, eight assists and 18 digs.

“Ava is definitely a fantastic volleyball player and a leader. She was killing herself getting to balls today that she shouldn’t have to kill herself getting to,” Meadows said. “I’m glad to have a kid like her because it’s hard for the other kids to slack a little bit when they see that example in front of them.”

Despite falling in the final three sets, Meadows saw many positives from her young team, which features a seventh-grader, an eighth-grader and three freshmen.

“We just need some of these kids to realize that the talent they have can carry them over,” Meadows said, “and they don’t have to question themselves.”

NOTES: Senior Kylie Morgan had six kills and five blocks; Loberg had 25 assists and five kills; and Hovey had 22 digs for Panama. … Senior Brynn Engdahl had six kills and 18 digs; Paddock had four kills and five blocks; sophomore Jeanine Group had three kills and 15 digs; and seventh-grader Alice Scarpine had 16 digs for Chautauqua Lake. … Chautauqua Lake won the jayvee match.