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Panama knocks off Westfield

By Christian Storms 4 min read

PANAMA -- In 2019, the Panama Panthers volleyball team was on its way to a third straight sectional title, while the Westfield Wolverines had just restarted their program and won only two games.

The two programs squared off on Monday to determine which team would compete for the Section VI Class D title on Friday.

It was the top-seeded Panthers who came out on top with a 25-11, 25-17, 25-18 sweep, but the 4-seed Wolverines left knowing how far their program has grown since coming back.

"Keara Kincaid, Tanleigh Bestine, we had a couple eighth-graders five years ago," Westfield head coach Greg Birner said. "That's why it's tough. We started off five years ago with two wins, now we're in the semifinals. It's good, it's really good volleyball. I'm very proud of them, I'm very thankful for the ride they gave Westfield volleyball. So we take it from here. We've got a good crew coming up."

In the semifinals, Panama showed why it's one of the premier volleyball programs in the area with a dominant start in the opening-set 25-11 win.

"They just want this really bad," Panama assistant coach Madalyn Bowen said about going after a sectional title. "Their ultimate goal from day one is to win a blue patch and they came out with that high energy. They know that's what they need to do to play, so they just came out ready to play."

Panama made no mistakes setting the tone in the opening set, and standing out above everyone was senior Sarah Harvey with her booming spikes. On the night, Harvey led the Panthers with 18 kills and added 12 digs; Kylie Morgan had three kills, three digs and two blocks; Kaitlyn Horton contributed four kills and two blocks; Kiera Loberg dished out 25 assists and Corinne Hovey added 14 digs.

"Any big kill or big block brings a ton of energy," Bowen said about Harvey's performance. "Sarah hits the ball as hard as anybody and that definitely gets them fired up."

Westfield improved in the second set, but could not capitalize on Panama errors before the Panthers began to pull away. With Panama leading 10-8, the Panthers rattled off a six-point run and then tacked on another five straight to go up 22-13 before finishing 25-17.

"I think the first thing you do is give Panama a lot of credit," Birner said about the sets. "They played their 'A' game in game one, had a couple mistakes in games two and three that we couldn't take advantage of. We tried to quicken up our offense there in the middle and that seemed to work, but just couldn't get enough of it."

The third set was just like the second, but flipped, as Panama got up early and allowed Westfield to creep back into it at the end. Kincaid paced the Wolverines with 21 kills, nine digs, five aces and two blocks; Bestine collected 31 assists, four digs, two aces, two blocks and three kills; Charlie Mathews contributed eight kills, a dig and a block; and Sydney Hotchkiss added 13 digs and two aces.

"We knew coming in they're a great team," Bowen said of Westfield. "Nothing is easy to get to that sectional title and we know that. We know that we have to play our game, run our offense and do all the things we can do well to make us better."

Despite the late surge, Panama closed out the final set 25-19 to advance to the Class D final on Friday at Southwestern where it will have a rematch against defending champion Chautauqua Lake. Panama is seeking its first sectional title since 2019.

"We need to stay focused," Bowen said. "Keep working hard and work on playing our game and doing all the little things right. Our girls worked really hard in practice, we knew that Westfield was scrappy, we knew that they were a good team. Us focusing on our game. Putting the ball away that first ball kill set the tone. If it's either that first serve or kill, it sets the tone."

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