The Indianola volleyball team advanced past Knoxville in the first round of regional play Tuesday, 3-1. The Indians came storming out of the gate to take set one 25-16, but the Panther rallied immediately to dominate set two 25-8. Set three went down to the wire with the Panthers up 20-19, but Indianola rallied for the final six points to go up 2-1 in sets taking the third 25-20. Set four saw Indianola come out strong again to go up 13-4, but the Panthers refused to go away quietly and got it down to a 4-point advantage 22-18, but the Indians scored the final three points to end the contest.

Indians head coach Kent Halstead tells KNIA Sports the win came from the Indians being able to put pressure on the Panthers from different athletes.

“We had different people step up all night. We are a balanced team out there. Sure we have some hitters, but we have a couple of other hitters, a couple of other people doing it. Then we took over from the service line. We serve tough. We give them a license to serve tough. We are going to miss sometimes, it’s going to look ugly, but we are not going to give the other team a free ball and then they get to kill it and get momentum. So we serve tough.”

Knoxville head coach Mollie Keitges said the team fought so hard and left everything out on the court, and they will miss their senior class of six.

“The seniors were awesome for us, they really embraced the team concept and that set our kids up for future success. We’ve got some big shoes to fill in each position with the seniors leaving, but our returners can really play volleyball so I’m already excited to get back into the gym in August.”

The Indians advance in regional play and travel to Pella tomorrow, while the Panthers season comes to a close with a 23-15 overall record.