Lake Charles, LA—Erin Fondel and Cheri Lindsay were both named to All Tournament Team during tournament play at the McNeese Tournament this past weekend of action while finishing with a final record of (1-2) at the tournament.
In game one against Northwestern State, the Lady Panthers came out ready to prove a point as they jumped out to a quick start in a match that went the distance. After claiming the first two sets the Lady Panthers were unable to close out Northwestern as the Lady Demons crawled themselves back to claim the final three sets winning the match in the fifth set (25-22, 26-24, 23-25, 12-25, 15,11).
Cheri Lindsay led the attack for the Lady Panthers finishing the contest with a final of 13 kills and ten digs. Erin Fondel also provided and led the contest with a total of 33 assists, three kills, seven digs, and three total blocks.
Lady Panthers came out hot claiming the first two sets of play, behind the hot hand of Cheri Lindsay in set two Prairie View was able to ignite a scoring tear as they dictated the pace of the match earning the 17-14 advantage mid way through the set. The Lady Demons wouldn’t back down as they kept chipping away at the lead cutting the deficit to one (21-20) on a attack error on Lindsay. The Lady Panther were able to turn it up a knotch as they ended up closing out the set 26-24 going up 2-0 in the match.
In a match that looked to be a decisive win for Prairie View, the Lady Panthers were unable to put the final touches on the match as the Lady Demons settled down to win the third set 25-23 behind five kills and six digs from Adams, who finished the match with 13 kills and 13 digs.
The forth set was a disaster for the Lady Panthers as they were held to only 12 points. The Lady Demons stormed out showing their dominance to force a fifth and final set, where the Lady Demons prevailed to win the set 15-11.
In the closing match of the day on Saturday, the Lady Panthers refused to go home winless holding UNO to a low .031 attack percentage for the match. A fresh UNO side was eager to hit the floor in their opening match of tournament play as set one was all Pirates. UNO was able to race out to an early lead eventually claiming the first set but Prairie View rallied back to force a decisive fifth frame, claiming a 3-2 victory (25-27, 25-15, 25-16, 23-25, 15-8).
SWAC Player of the Week Cheri Lindsay led the way for the Lady Panthers totaling match highs with 17 kills and 15 digs for PVAMU, who bounced back in the win column after a five-set setback against Northwestern State earlier in the day. Breanna McNeil joined Lindsay in double-figure kills with 14.
Erin Fondel had a match-high of 36 assists with Jasmine Hales and Sierra White adding 14 and 12 digs, respectively. Sharonda Marshall was the top blocker for the Panthers, having a hand on seven of the team’s 15 blocks against a UNO offense that struggled throughout the match.
In back to back matches that went the distance, the Lady Panthers had many positives to take out of Saturdays play as tables could have turned Prairie View’s way in both matches. After being faced with adversity dropping the first set the Lady Panthers were able to gather themselves defensively which allowed their offense to flow against the University of New Orleans.
After a promising performance on Friday the Lady Panthers were to close out tournament play on Saturday against host McNeese. The Cowgirls came into the match with a record of 2-0 as they cruised to victories in both matches looking to go undefeated in the tournament.
In set one, both teams went back and forth trading off the lead, at 14-12 the game was itching to see a run from any side as McNeese took the first attempt as they held PVAMU scoreless while they rallied scoring seven straight point to claim the 21-15 advantage. McNeese was able to close out the set 25-18 to take the first set.
Set two and three played out in similar fashion with Prairie View playing well throughout both sets but were unable to climb over the hump as the Cowgirls held on to sweep PVAMU,3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-16).
Cheri Lindsay again led the Prairie View attack finishing the contest with 11 kills and four digs. Jasmine Houston was also able to contribute offensively recording six kills and one block. Sharonda Marshall led PVAMU defensively recording two blocks while also contributing five kills. Jasmine Hales and Erin Fondel recorded 17 and seven digs, respectively.
Prairie View will continue their season and travel north to Arlington, Texas to compete in the UT Arlington tournament on September 17-18.
