The Miami Trace Lady Panthers wrapped up the 2019 regular season with a match against the Fairfield High School Lady Lions Wednesday.
It was senior night and the Lady Panthers sent their five seniors out with a win in four sets, 25-18, 20-25, 25-20 and 25-23.
Seniors Grace Bapst, Kate Leach, Sidney Howard, Tapanga Sanderson and Anna Williams were recognized prior to the match.
Miami Trace also gave a tip of the cap and a flower to each of Fairfield’s senior players.
“This was senior night for Kate, Sidney, Tapanga, Anna and Grace,” Miami Trace head coach Doug Mace said. “This was the last home game for them. There’s a lot of emotion going on. It kind of affected us. I thought our play was flat there at the beginning.
“These girls have helped us win our first league championship,” Mace said. “The seniors did their job and we’re really proud of them. I’ve been around them now for four years. They are a bunch of really good kids with really good parents. I thanked the parents a few minutes ago and said, ‘you guys have been awesome to have for the four years your kids have been playing.’
“We’ve watched them come up and got to know them real well over the years,” Mace said. “I can’t say enough about what good, quality people they are. You look forward to seeing them in the gym every day. That’s a blessing to have. This year things went good for us a few times. Fortunately a couple things went our way, so, for them to end their season here on a winning note — tough, but a winning note — they get to put their name up on the banner saying, ‘hey, we won a league championship.’ That’s a good group and they deserve it. I’m really proud of them.”
Mace spoke a bit about Fairfield.
“To their credit, they played a really good, sound game,” Mace said. “Their style is a little different than what we’re used to seeing in our league. It kind of threw us for a loop a little bit. We weren’t sure how to handle it. Either team could have won any of those (sets). We’re fortunate to come away with the win.”
Statistically for Miami Trace, Laura Robinson had eight kills, Olivia Fliehman had 13 kills and three ace serves, Tapanga Sanderson had 12 kills and four aces and Sidney Howard had seven kills and three blocks.
In the j-v match Wednesday, Miami Trace completed the 2019 season with a record of 15-2 with a 25-19, 25-12 win over Fairfield.
Statistically for Miami Trace, Sara Dawson had six kills and one block; Courtney Carter had eight attacks and two kills, McKinley Kelley had six ace serves and Madison Johnson had four ace serves.
As reported previously in the Record-Herald, the Miami Trace j-v team went 10-0 to win the Frontier Athletic Conference title.
Miami Trace (now 12-8) will play at Circleville in the Sectional tournament Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m.
