ATHENS — NEB volleyball defended well enough to keep themselves in the match, but couldn't get their offense going in their 3-0 loss to Sayre during District IV, Class A semifinal action Monday.

The defending district champs won the sets 25-17, 25-21, and 25-15.

"That was definitely our biggest struggle tonight, just on the offensive side of it," NEB coach Josh Lundy said. "Defensively, for the most part, we were digging up everything, and then we just couldn't follow through with that."

Onaleigh Gardner had seven kills, four digs, and one ace for the Panthers with Ella Cooley getting eight assists, and three aces.

Adalyn Burgert had four assists, one dig, and an ace, while Summer Morris added three kills. Brianna Pelka had two kills, with Cora Pousen getting one kill.

Orissa Gardner had two digs, with Dailee Gow adding one dig.

For Sayre Reghan McGaughey had 14 kills, 14 digs, and an ace, as Yhale Doon had 20 assists, three aces, one kill, and five digs.

Grace Russo finished with 16 digs, and three aces, while Alex Schack had 10 digs, with three aces. 

Azelea McClenny finished with six kills, and a dig, with Ember Jones getting two kills, and two blocks. Mylee Medina chipped in with six digs, and Emily Strickland notched a dig.

It was back and forth early in the first set as neither team got a lead of more than three points.

It was 3-3 early when Sayre went a 3-0 run behind two aces from Schack. NEB would close the gap, out scoring them 4-1 as their defense forced the Redskins into a few hitting error.

With the match tied up at 7-7 McGaughey gave Sayre the lead with a kill, only for Onaleigh to come back with a kill for the Panthers.

After NEB attack into the net Pelka had a kill to make it 9-9.

Sayre followed with a three straight points, behind kills from Doon and McClenny. Back to back Sayre errors saw NEB cut it to 12-11, but the Redskins came back with three straight points to take a 15-11 lead, forcing an NEB timeout.

NEB would get a point coming out of the break for a 15-12 score, and after the two teams traded points, a McClenny kill made it 16-14. 

That sparked a 4-2 run from Sayre as they built a 20-16 lead. Three straight aces from Russo made it 23-16, with Onaleigh getting a kill to end the run.

McClenny came back with a kill for Sayre, then a Panther freeball landed out, giving the Redskins the first set win.

Sayre opened the second set with back to back aces from Doon, but NEB rallied with five straight, ending on a Burgert ace for the 5-2 lead.

The Redskins chipped away, cutting it to 6-5 on a McGaughey kill. After the teams traded points, NEB went on a 4-0 run behind three aces from Cooley, to take an 11-6 lead.

That's as big a lead as they would have all night, and they had it twice - 12-7, and 13-8 - before Sayre chipped away, scoring four straight points for a 13-12 game.

After a Pelka kill made it a 2-point set Sayre would score three straight for a 15-14 lead.

A Panther block made it 15-15, and the teams would tie again at 16-all before Sayre scored two straight to take an 18-16 lead.

NEB cut it to one point again as a Sayre attack ended in the net, but McGaughey responded with back to back kills for a 20-17 lead.

NEB hung around, cutting int to 22-20 on a Morris ace, but a kill from McClenny, and an ace out of McGaughey put them on the brink. 

Two points later McClenny had a kill that gave them the 4-point win.

The third set started competitive, with the teams tied at five, when Sayre went on a 3-0 spurt for an 8-5 lead.

NEB chipped away, cutting it to 9-8 after a Sayre hitting error, and eventually tying it up on a Burgert ace at 10-10.

The teams stayed tied through 12-12 when three straight NEB hitting errors put them down 15-12.

Sayre returned the favor with a serve into the net to make it a 2-point set, but back to back kills from Jones made it 17-13.

From there the Redskins out scored NEB 8-2 to pull away for the win.

Despite the loss this was a marked improvement for the Panthers from last year, and with such a young team, Lundy believes this is a step in the right direction.

"We've definitely come a long ways, even from the beginning of the season," he said. "We have a lot of young girls that are starters, so that shows a great future comping up, and ahead of us, especially playing with a team that won districts last year. We definitely have a lot of potential there."

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