After back-to-back sweeps to push their league record to 2-1, the Pacheco Panthers welcomed the Ceres Bulldogs to the Brett Lee Gym last Wednesday. Ceres also brought a 2-1 record in early Western Athletic Conference play, making the matchup a key game on the Pacheco campus.
A quick start for the Panthers was short lived as the visitors pulled out a 25-14 victory in the first game. Seeing this type of start before, Pacheco head coach Daniel Maldonado was understandably worried about the bounce back in his team.
“The first set had me worried, but for the first time in as far back as I can remember they bounced back from a tough first set to play well,” Maldonado said.
And bounce back they did, winning the second set 25-21 and arguably setting the tone for the rest of the match. The back and forth action would continue in the third game, seeing the host Panthers pull out a dramatic 27-25 win that had the entire gym rocking.
With the Panther fans and the Ceres JV and frosh teams cheering back and forth, the Bulldogs would capture game 4 with a score of 25-23 setting up a dramatic fifth game.
Pacheco would jump out to an early lead and never look back, taking the fifth game 15-10 to win the match.
