The Neosho County Community College Panther volleyball team opened the first of four games at the Allen County Invitational with a 3-1 win over Dodge City Community College Friday afternoon.
After breezing through the first set 25-14, the Panthers had their hands full the rest of the match.
In the second set, Neosho County found itself trailing 3-1 early, but eventually, the Panthers worked their way into the lead at 6-4 after a two-hit call on Dodge City.
The Lady Conquistadors regained the lead at 12-11 following an ace serve and never surrendered the lead again for the remainder of their 25-19 win.
With the match tied at one apiece, Neosho County raced out to a 6-1 advantage on Dodge.
The Lady Conquistadors worked their way back into the game, tying the set at 15 apiece before the Panthers scored six straight points, but Dodge City responded with a 6-0 run of their own to tie the game up once again.
A kill by freshman Sabrina Ebarb put NCCC in front for good en route to a 26-24 set-three victory.
In the final set, it was Dodge who jumped out to an early lead, but a kill by freshman Rianne Richard put the Panthers back in the lead.
The score proved to be the final lead Dodge City held for the rest of the match.
In the waning moments of the game, Richard helped secure the 25-20 win with three straight serving aces, putting the match out of reach.
Neosho County also defeated Ottawa University JV 3-0 (25-22, 25-19 and 25-18) in the second game of the day.
The Panthers will open day two of the Allen County Invitational with host Allen County at 9 am Saturday. NCCC will then wrap up the tournament with Fort Scott at 3 pm.