The Bruton volleyball team suffered a disappointing loss during a 16-25, 15-25, 25-12, 25-19, 16-14 road loss against Maggie Walker Saturday afternoon — the first match of a doubleheader for the Panthers.
Bruton won the first two sets with ease 25-16 and 25-15. Feeling confident about his team’s prospects in the third set, Bruton Coach Kevin Doloresco brought in reserve players.
The Bruton reserves lost the third set 25-12, which prompted Doloresco to reinsert his starters into the match. The momentum, however, was already with Maggie Walker.
Maggie Walker won the fourth set 25-19 and managed to hold off the Panthers in the fifth set 16-14 to secure the comeback victory.
Gabby Calloway paced Bruton with 15 kills and 10 digs, while Aaliyah Bartlett logged 14 assists and 12 digs.
The Panthers (1-6) continued their season later Saturday afternoon during a match against Arcadia.
Maggie Walker def. Bruton 16-25, 15-25, 25-12, 25-19, 16-14
Bruton: Gabby Calloway (2 aces, 15 kills, 10 digs), Mykael Johnson (1 ace, 24 digs, 6 kills), Alexa Woolson (3 aces, 8 assists), Aaliyah Bartlett (1 ace, 14 assists, 12 digs)
Bruton Routs Arcadia
Coming off a tough loss earlier in the day, Bruton rebounded with a commanding 25-5, 25-5, 25-11 win against Arcadia.
Similar to the opening match, Bruton handily won the first two sets by a score of 25-5 and 25-5. Also in a similar fashion to the first match of the day, Doloresco opted to put in his reserve players for the third set.
The move paid off against an overmatched Arcadia squad, which dropped the third and final set 25-11 and handed Bruton a doubleheader split on the day.
Alexa Woolson led the Panthers in the win with 11 aces and nine assists. Gabby Calloway had seven kills and Tabitha Oliver chipped in eight aces.
Bruton (2-6) will host Poquoson at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Bruton def. Arcadia 25-5, 25-5, 25-11
Bruton: Alexa Woolson (11 aces, 9 assists), Gabby Calloway (7 kills), Tabitha Oliver (8 aces)
