The Pioneer volleyball team came up short in a three-game loss to No. 3-ranked Tri-County at the Class 1A South Newton Sectional on Saturday.
The Cavaliers swept the Panthers 25-15, 25-10, 25-15 in a semifinal match.
Tri-County later fell to No. 10 South Newton 23-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-10 in the title match. That loss ended Tri-County's (30-2) winning streak at 26 matches.
South Newton (24-10) will play Fremont (22-9) at the LaPorte Regional on Saturday.
The Panthers (19-14) were hoping to be the team that upset the Cavaliers on Saturday, but it was not to be.
"We didn't play well," Pioneer coach Rod Nies said, "but they're pretty good. They're solid. Their schedule was really soft. But they've got two girls that can really pop the ball. They're senior led. They won the sectional last year and we knew we had to go in and play well to compete and have a shot at them. And we would start each set where we would dig about a five- or six-point hole. And it just kind of dictated the whole outcome of each set. We were constantly playing from behind to try to catch them.
"We have a young team. I'm proud of how they played. The kids worked hard. We just couldn't get the job done. So back to the drawing board. I was kind of hoping to send my daughter out with a sectional championship, but it just wasn't going to happen this year."
The Panthers had just one starter back from last year's Class 2A semistate team, Keirsten Nies, who was their lone senior this year.
She had eight kills, seven digs, five assists and two blocks in her final match for the Panthers.
Aspen Moolenaar had five kills and 13 digs. Madyson Shaffer collected 12 digs. Averi Layer and Laylah Demond floored four kills apiece. Kendalyn Farrer had three kills. Lois Layer dished out 15 assists and added five digs.
Coach Nies said the future remains bright for the Panthers.
"With this freshman class and what I got in the eighth grade coming up and that seventh grade class is really good and solid, so if you're going to beat us, this is the year to beat us," he said. "I think the next three, four years, I think we could be really tough to beat."
Nies added the Panthers just battled inconsistency this year.
"At times we looked pretty solid and looked like we were going to be a contender. And then we could never get over the hump. It seemed like we always kind of got caught up in the moment," he said. "I'll take the blame for all that. I didn't properly prepare the girls. I've got to accept responsibility there of getting them ready and getting them more focused."
Nies added this year's team might be the youngest of his coaching tenure.
"It's just one of those deals where, we get that back-to-back classes that are small. Her class being one of them and the class behind her, just small numbers at play," he said. "This is the first year I've ever started three freshmen. It's not uncommon for me to start a freshman but to start three freshmen in some pretty key areas of the game. We had a libero, one middle and one left-side hitter. I can tell you right now they're going be really good if they continue to work hard and put forth the effort. They're pretty talented, they're a pretty special group.
"It was tough loss. I hate to see my daughter go out like that. But I had lots of enjoyment last year with that semistate run that we made. So I got to spend that with her. I was pretty pleased with that.
"This loss is only going to make us more hungry, more focused I hope. For these underclassmen hopefully it'll kind of light a fire under them to get out and play club and really push themselves to be a better and more complete player."