The Neosho county Community College volleyball fell to the Hesston College Larks Wednesday night 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 18-25 and 27-25).
The Panthers were forced to modify their lineup without setter Haley Slade, and with the freshman on the sidelines, it forced sophomore Jill Starling into a full time setter role.
"We get a lot of offense from Jill, but she didn't have that role (Wednesday), "Coach Asya Herron said.
The Panthers were strong out of the gate, scoring the first four points of the opening set and held the lead until Hesston went on a 6-2 run in the middle stages of the set.
It was much the same story in the second set.
Neosho County jumped out to a 3-1 advantage, but quickly saw it evaporate.
"Looking at the stats they weren't that bad. We were averaging 13 assists," Herron said. "It was a combination of making errors at crucial points in the game. It's been the story of our season. We'll have five or six really good points and end up giving them right back."
However, that story changed in the third set. "I told the girls to focus on our side of the court, run a nice solid offense and put the ball in their court," Herron said.
"I think that was the difference. We were the aggressors. We went out and earned our points. Before we were sitting back and letting them control the tempo of the match. We didn't do that the third set."
The Panthers raced out to a 12-3 lead, and freshman middle blocker Riley McGinn extended the advantage to double digits at 15-5 with one of her team-high 14 kills.
In the deciding set, Neosho County score the first two points, but the Larks went on a 5-1 run to take a 5-3 lead.
The Panthers regained the advantage after a block point and two more kills by McGinn, but another run by Hesston put Neosho County behind for good.
With the match tied at 25 apiece, the Larks scored the final two points to secure the win.
"Too many errors in a row made the difference in the game, "Herron concluded.
The Panthers (22-11 overall and 3-5 in the KJCCC) will travel to MCC-Longview on Friday.
First serve is scheduled for 6pm.