By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Sometimes tough love is the answer.
That’s what Cabot received from first-year coach DeAnna Campbell on Tuesday, and the Lady Panthers responded by capturing their first 7A Central victory of the season over Little Rock Central in five games. Scores in the match were 18-25, 25-23, 13-25, 25-17, 15-11 at Panther Pavilion.
Campbell remained seated alongside assistant coach Becky Steward through most of the match, and did not rescue the Lady Panthers with a timeout as they struggled through a miserable game three in which the Lady Tigers dominated.
Cabot turned things around at the start of the fourth game, largely on the strength of junior outside hitter Dominika Gubricova, who posted three quick kills to give the Lady Panthers a 3-1 lead. Gubricova also finished strong in the fifth and final game with six more kills for nearly half of the needed points.
“Tonight, I think it was kind of a right of passage for them,” Campbell said. “They have been very dependant on us to teach them and keep them going. We told them tonight, ‘you’re to the point where you need to start doing this yourselves. You’ve got to start making decisions yourself. You’re going to fight or be scared.’
“They took the challenge in the first game in the huddle. They rose to the challenge and they fought.”
Sophomore hitter Bailey Uhiren took charge in the second game with the bulk of Cabot’s kills, including two straight tippers that pushed the advantage to 20-13 for the Lady Panthers. Senior Kori Malloy followed with a kill, but it was Malloy’s sets for assists to both Uhiren and Gubricova that made the biggest difference in the match.
“She’s been working on getting to the ball,” Campbell said. “One of the things we adjusted that helped us was setting. You’ve got to move the ball around, and we had gotten to where we were setting the same person two-three-four times in a row. And so they were able to block them.”
Central’s defense got to Cabot in the third set, forcing multiple errors that led to easy points for the Lady Tigers. Central built a commanding 22-9 lead with help from four straight side-outs against the Lady Panthers.
Gubricova had been relatively quiet until game four, where she came alive with eight kills.
Sam Mantione and Kaitlyn Pitman also contributed kills, as the Lady Panthers began to pull away from a 10-10 tie with seven unanswered points. Gubricova had just three kills through the first three games but finished with 18 for the match.
“She’s our most experienced hitter by far,” Campbell said. “In a go-to situation, she’s going to be one that’s going to get the nod, because she’s fearless, she swings hard and she doesn’t back down. Whenever she gets on a roll and keeps scoring — in volleyball, if you’ve got one that keeps going, you just keep giving it to her.”
There were also strong performances in the backcourt, including a strong night serving and defending by junior libero Hannah Montgomery.
Sophomore Taylor Bitely also had a good defensive performance at the net for Cabot, along with sophomore Lakin Best.
With only a few conference games remaining, the Lady Panthers are a long shot for postseason play at this point. But with young players showing steady improvement on a roster that includes nine sophomores and five juniors with just two seniors, Campbell said there is still plenty to fight for.
“As young as we are, I’m not sure that going and playing a game at state would do more harm than good,” Campbell said. “I think it might scare them more than anything else. Next year, this whole group will be older, and I’d like to go to state older with more experience. A little less fear and a lot more attack, which is what we’ve been working on.”
