By John RittenhouseThe Ellsworth volleyball team opened the season in impressive fashion by beating a pair of teams early this week.The Panthers posted a four-game win over Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster in Round Lake Monday before winning a four-game match against Fulda in Ellsworth Tuesday.Ellsworth plays Westbrook-Walnut Grove in Westbrook Friday.Ellsworth 3, Fulda 1The Panthers came out on the winning end for the second consecutive night when they topped the Raiders in Ellsworth Tuesday.All four games of the match were close, but EHS used some scrappy defensive play to win three of them."We played good defense and it kept us in the match," said EHS coach Jason Langland. "It really wasn’t an offensive match. Neither team hit the ball very well."The match was entertaining, as a four-point difference was the largest margin of victory in four games.Ellsworth led 2-0 after posting 25-23 and 25-22 wins in Games 1 and 2, but the Raiders came back to post a 25-21 victory in the third game. The Panthers iced the win by pulling out a 26-24 win in Game 4.Marla Groen completed 12 of 13 serves and recorded five aces for the winners. Lynette Drenth and Amy Timmer charted six set assists each.Amy Tiesler and Brittney Kramer led with eight and seven kills respectively. Laurel Drenth charted eight digs and five blocks.Ellsworth 3, SV-RL-B 1The Panthers opened the season in style by posting a four-game win over the Raiders in Round Lake Monday."It was the first time we won the first match of the season since I’ve been here," said Panther coach Langland. "I was pretty happy with the way we played. We worked some of the kinks out."Ellsworth rolled to a 25-12 win in Game 1 before falling behind by four points late in the second game. EHS, however, rallied to knot the score at 26 before using an ace tip by Brittney Kramer to take a 27-26 edge. The Panthers scored the next point to seal a 28-26 win.SV-RL-B pulled out a 25-21 win in Game 3 before EHS settled the issue with a 25-16 win in the fourth tilt.Kramer (eight kills and eight blocks) and Laurel Drenth (10 kills, eight blocks and six digs) turned in strong performances at the net for the winners. Kramer was 14 of 16 serving with seven aces.Amy Tiesler completed all 14 of her serves and registered three aces to go along with six digs during the match.Lynette Drenth and Marla Groen contributed eight and six set assists respectively to the winning cause."I thought we passed the ball fairly well, and Kramer and Laurel Drenth did a good job of blocking at the net. We served the ball pretty well, too. It was a good first match," Langland concluded.
