Olivia Picard winds up for a hit during the Panthers' sweep through the Whittemore-Prescott Invitational on Saturday.
Linda Eyer
Barbara Filipeck sets one up at Saturday's tournament at Whittemore-Prescott.

WHITTEMORE-PRESCOTT - Oct. 13, 2007 - Standish-Sterling continued its resurgent volleyball season Saturday at Whittemore-Prescott, sweeping their first six matches at the Cardinals' invitational and hanging on to defeat Hale in the championship match.

The Panthers beat Oscoda twice, Alcona and Skeels Christian, and book-ended their day with a 25-21, 25-17 defeat of Hale in the opener and a 25-18, 22-25, 15-6 victory in the championship match.

The Panthers managed that despite the absence of setter Terra Hartley for the first two matches as Hartley competed at the state equestrian finals in Midland that morning.

"We were a little nervous going into the tournament (without Hartley), said SSC coach Kristi Yenna. "We had two practices with her replacement Shaylyn Cuttitta.

"The girls responded really well and everyone, especially Shay, stepped up to fill the void. Once Terra got there it was like we never missed a beat. They just picked up and we kept playing together."

Yenna said the Panthers overall played well for the most part, but she's still looking for more consistency.

"It's getting better," she said. "But many times we only play as good as we need to in order to win, but against good teams you can't do that."

The Panthers opened the championship match with a win, but Hale came back to win the second game and force a 15-point deciding third game.

"I give Hale a lot of credit," Yenna said. "They never stopped trying and they really played well. They outplayed us in that second game."

SSC returns to Whittemore-Prescott on Wednesday for a North East Michigan Conference match.

SSC Stats: Ellen Walderzak 97% serving, 7 aces, 55 digs, 41 kills, 17 blocks; Shaylyn Cuttitta 84% serving, 6 aces, 22 digs, 34 assists; Brooke Emans 83% serving, 5 digs; Terra Hartley 95% serving, 8 aces, 34 digs, 11 kills, 86 assists, 6 blocks; Olivia Picard 93% serving, 3 aces, 42 digs, 29 kills, 17 blocks; Christina P. 5 digs, 5 kills, 15 blocks; Lauren Perrin 94% serving, 4 aces, 61 digs, 4 assists; Christy Schott. 100% serving, 7 aces, 3 kills; Barbara Filipeck 98% serving, 6 aces, 23 digs, 32 kills, 3 blocks; Cassie Roehm 9 kills, 22 blocks.