AUSTIN — The Pflugerville High volleyball team utilized a balanced attack to dominate Vandergrift and pick up their second win of the year, sweeping the Vipers 25-19, 25-15, 25-14 last Wednesday.

Three Panthers tallied five or more kills with I’Tiana Taylor leading the way with eight. Marisa Gilbert had seven and Diana Omozee finished with six. Nneka Enemkpali had four and Adesuwa Ebomwonyi added three more for Pflugerville. The engine that drove the Panther hit machine was setter Lindsay Ernest who finished the match with 23 assists.

The Vipers jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first game, but two kills each by Gilbert and Enemkpali turned a deficit into a 7-3 Pflugerville lead. Strong play at the net by Omozee, Enemkpali, Taylor and Gilbert kept the Panthers out in front but they could not pull away from Vandergrift who tied the game at 17-17 before Ernest fed Enemkpali for a kill that put Pflugerville back up 18-17. The Panthers would not give this lead away. Enemkpali and Omozee teamed for a stuff block for a point and Ernest served an ace to push Pflugerville’s lead to 21-17. Ernest fed Omozee for a kill then passed to Taylor who knocked home another point to put the Panthers up 24-19. Kate Palladino took care of the rest, serving an ace for the final point of the game.

The two teams traded points to start the second game before Pflugerville began to pull away. Palladino tallied an assist to Katelyn Nyland that put the Panthers up 9-6. The point was followed by a Taylor stuff block and an Omozee kill that increased Pflugerville’s advantage to 11-6. The Panthers led 19-10 thanks to back-to-back aces by Jasmyn Booker and a kill by Gilbert pushed the lead to 20-10. Pflugerville led 21-11 but had some errors which led the Vipers creep back into the picture. Vandergrift eventually trimmed the Panther lead to 23-15 before they committed an error of their own to put the game at game point. Ebomwonyi took care of the rest, taking a pass from Ernest and driving the ball into the floor on the other side of the net for the game-winning kill.

Pflugerville built a 14-6 lead in the third game but Vandergrift came roaring back with a 6-0 run that trimmed the Panther lead to 14-12. Ernest stopped the Viper rally by feeding Gilbert for a kill. The point sparked a 9-0 Pflugerville run that saw Palladino serve five aces and Taylor blast home two kills. The Vipers stopped the Panthers before the match ended but it was only a brief respite. Kills by Omozee and Taylor finished Vandergrift off and secured the win for Pflugerville.