Lakeland knows its rivalry with sister school Walter Panas is a big one but also realizes it has to come hard every match no matter who it is playing.
Nevertheless, it was a very satisfying feeling for the Hornets after they swept host Panas 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-19) on Wednesday, propelled to the victory by Kelly Mallon with 18 kills, 11 digs; Mia Aquart with 11 digs, 7 kills; Caelyn Faison with 5 kills, 3 blocks; Sofia Cruz with 18 assists, 6 kills; Amelia Mallon with 13 assists, 9 digs; and Ava Stabile with 9 digs.
“The team was able to come out on top because even though the rivalry between Panas and Lakeland is huge, we all still look at it as just another game on the schedule,” Lakeland’s Kelly Mallon said. “No matter who’s on the other side of the net, we all know why we are there and that’s to play volleyball. It always feels nice to beat a rivalry school like Panas especially because we had lost to them last year in five at its gym.”
She explained the difference between this year and last year.
“We just have a completely different mindset this year,” Kelly Mallon said. “We are going into every game with energy and confidence and I think that’s the difference this year.”
That energy and confidence has propelled the Hornets to a 5-1 start to the season after the win against Panas.
“Our team has been able to get off to such a great start because our chemistry both on and off the court is really strong,” Cruz said. “These girls aren’t just my teammates, they’re also my friends, and that really translates onto the court. We genuinely want to play hard for each other and see each other succeed, and having that connection makes it so much easier for us to work together as a team.”
The first set saw the two rivals at a 14-14 standstill before the Hornets outscored the Panthers 11-5 the rest of the way to win the opening set.
“We had a talk in our huddle about fixing our unforced errors and trusting each other and that’s something that worked really well for us, was making less unforced errors on our part,” Kelly Mallon said.
Lakeland propelled itself to the win in the second set by getting off to a 13-6 lead in it.
“We were feeding off of the energy from the first set and once again going into the set with confidence,” Kelly Mallon said. “I think that’s something our team does very well is believing in each other and in ourselves and that’s what makes us able to get those leads in close games like that.”
The Hornets sealed the match by rallying from a 13-4 deficit to win the third set.
“We were able to rally back because we all know what it means to win against Panas,” Cruz said. “This team has shown not just in this game, but in others too, that we know how to fight back. Volleyball is such a mental game, and being mentally strong really helped us come back from being down 13-4.”
Cruz said that the Hornets were able to come out on top against Panas because they worked together and continued to play their game.
“Playing Panas can definitely be stressful because there’s such a big rivalry between our teams, so the game always feels like it means a little more,” Cruz said. “We were able to put that pressure aside and just focus on playing the way we know how to play. Beating Panas felt so rewarding, especially knowing how much this game meant to all of us. It was such an exciting win, and it made it even better knowing that we all worked together to earn it.”
Lakeland also played visiting North Salem on Monday, coming away with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-13) victory, led by Kelly Mallon with 10 kills, 6 digs, 4 aces; Aquart with 10 digs, 7 kills; Cruz with 14 assists, 5 aces; Faison with 7 kills; Amelia Mallon with 12 assists; and Vera Ibrahimi with 7 digs.
Lakeland will next play in the Yorktown Tournament at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
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