Coming off a tough conference road loss at Fort Scott on Monday, the Neosho County Community College Panther volleyball team returned to the win column at home Wednesday evening with a straight set victory over the Independence Community College Lady Pirates.
The Panthers powered past the Pirates 3-0 (25-11, 25-17 and 25-20), and the win was the 15th overall of the season for Neosho County and third in the  Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.
"It was a good game," Coach Asya Herron said. "We mixed up the lineup, and let some people play in places where we will be working with them in the spring. It was a good test to do that."
Sophomore hitter Mackenzie Brown got the Panthers off to a quick start courtesy of one of her four kills.
Neosho County jumped out to a quick 10-2 advantage en route to the 14-point set victory.
Independence helped the Panthers' cause with a series of attack and serving errors down the stretch.
It was much the same story in the second set with the Panthers racing out to a 9-3 advantage.
Sophomore setter Jill Starling closed out the set with a three straight kills. She ended the evening with a team-high nine to go along with 13 assists and 10 digs.
In the final set, it was the visitors who made some noise in the early going. The Lady Pirates scored the first three points of the deciding third set before Neosho County was on the scoreboard.
"They are scrappy team. They'll be fine by the end of the season. I've known (ICC Coach) Daniela Pena for a long time," Herron said about her former recruit.
An attack error by Independence tied the game at four, but  again, it was the Lady Pirates who looked to take control of the set, scoring four of the next five points.
It wasn't until freshman libero  Taryn Strobel dished up back-to-back serving aces did Neosho County take the lead.
With the score at 14-13, the Panthers never surrendered the lead again for the remainder of the match.
Strobel ended the game with three aces, along with freshman Kylie Foster who also tallied three. Stroble also recorded a team-high 20 digs.
Freshman middle blocker Riley McGinn led the team with five blocks to go along with seven kills.
The Panthers (15-8 overall and 3-4 in the KJCCC) will host the Panther Invite Friday October 2nd and Saturday.October 3rd. The Panthers will play at 1pm and 5pm on Friday and 9am and 3pm on Saturday.