Two weeks after competing in the largest volleyball tournament in the country, the John Turner Classic (that tournament had 88 teams), the Kingwood Park Panthers volleyball team competed in another major Texas tournament.
This time, the Panthers took on more tough competition in the 2018 Volleypalooza tournament in Leander, a tournament which consists of approximately 70 teams.
The Panthers were placed in Pool Four and on Thursday, Aug. 23, the Panthers played three matches and got off to a good start in the tournament.
After losing a tough three-set match to Cibolo Steele, where they won the second set but lost the first and third sets, the Panthers rebounded.
Against Stratford, the Panthers got back on the winning track, winning the first set 25-16 and the second 25-18. The third match, against Denton Guyer, was a three-set match that saw K-Park lose the first set but rally to win the second and third sets, 25-19 and 25-18.
The Panthers spent Friday in Group One, Pool Three, again with mixed results. That day, the Panthers won their first game in the group against Aledo in straight sets, 25-15 and 25-18.
However, the next two matches, against Lovejoy and Mansfield, ended quite differently as the Panthers fell to Lovejoy 25-19 and 25-21, and lost to Mansfield in three sets. They won the first, 25-21, but lost the next two.
That put the Panthers in the Silver Bracket for the last day of the tournament, where they won two of three matches.
The Panthers' first two matches in that bracket, a straight-set win over A&M Consolidated and a three-set win against Clark, put the Panthers in the bracket’s championship game, where they fell to Weatherford.
