So much for comparative scores. If team A defeats Team B and Team B wins over Team C, then surely Team A will trounce Team C. It's all very logical. Anyone can see how it works. The problem of course is that competitive athletics aren't always logical, perhaps especially at the high school level. Charger volleyball players and fans learned that lesson last night, as upstart Panorama came into town and went home with a 3-1 win over ACGC.

So, heading into last night's match, Panorama had a nice 6-1 record in conference play, while the Chargers were sitting at 5-2. However, when you look at comparative scores, ACGC appeared to have the advantage. The Chargers had defeated Van Meter, while the Panthers lost in three sets to the Bulldogs. ACGC trounced West Central Valley in three sets, while it took five sets for Panorama to top the Wildcats. The two Charger losses in the conference were to the top teams in the league--Des Moines Christian and Woodward-Granger. Panorama has played neither. Logically the Chargers should have taken care of the Panther nemesis.

But it was not to be. The Chargers fell 25-21, 23-25, 24-26, and 21-25 to their neighbors to the east in one of the most exciting matches of the season. It was not a matter of the Chargers playing poorly, but rather the Panthers playing just a bit better than the local girls. It was a tight match right from the get go, Trailing 21-19 in the first set, the Chargers scored the last six points to seal the win. With the score tied at 21 apiece Chloe Largent's kill took the wind out of the Panther sails and ACGC went up 1-0 in sets.

Unfortunately that was the last of any Charger wins, although every set could have gone either way. In set two ACGC fell behind 9-1 early on and had to battle back. After tying the score at 12-12, the Chargers took its first lead at 15-14 and led late 23-22 before Panorama scored the final three points to even the set score at one each.

ACGC started out slowly in set three, but with a boisterous student section supporting them, the Chargers took a 21-18 lead on Jadeyn Carrick's block. ACGC got within a point of taking the set at 24-23, but the lead was short lived as the Panthers scored three consecutive points to win the set, 26-24.

The final set was much like the others, as neither team was able to dominate. There were several great volleys, and some great individual play. The Chargers led late at 21-20, but did not score again, giving the Panthers the set and the match.

Chloe Largent and Olivia Laabs both hit double figures in kills with 19 and 10 respectivley. Laabs led in digs with 11, while Largent and "G" Hoover had 7. Savana Fuller and Jadeyn Carrick were each credited with 6 blocks. Audrey Stowe had all 43 of the assists, and also went a perfect 15 of 15 from the serving line. Carrick was 19 of 19 and Largent 20 of 21 with 7 aces. The Chargers served well as a team with a 93.8% success rate and a team total of 19 aces.

Despite the loss, the Chargers still have a chance to finish in a tie for third place in the WCAC, but we're not going to talk about any comparative scores! The team will play all of its remaining regular season matches on the road, beginning with the CAM tournament at Anita on Saturday. Two conference matches remain on the schedule--next Tuesday at Ogden and two days later at Pleasantville.

Set scores:

Pan 21 25 26 25

ACGC 25 23 24 21