The taste of victory is always sweet.

But for the Panther Valley girls volleyball team, its win over Minersville on Tuesday night was like receiving the "golden ticket" to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.The Panthers walked out of Martz Hall with some new hardware and gold medals and also punched their ticket to states by winning the District 11 2A championship over the Miners in four sets, 3-1.It was the first district title for the Panthers volleyball program since 1986."This team never gives up, they just have so much fight and they don't worry about the score, they just try to be better on their next opportunity," said Panther Valley head coach Nancy Filer. "They're not afraid to play when things are going bad, they just always bounce back and tonight proved that."In the first game of the night, the Miners looked like the more focused team. Minersville wasted no time showing that it was going to put up a fight, getting out to a 10-3 lead.The Miners big middle hitter Reiley Lonergan, who had 16 kills on the night, was a problem early and throughout the game for the Panthers. Lonergan had four kills in the Miners 10-point stretch and six in the frame."Reiley works really hard and we tried to get her the ball as much as we could tonight," said Minersville head coach Kenton Martin. "Our game plan was to get the ball to the middle and she did a great job of taking advantage of the opportunities she was given."The Panthers also foreshadowed what its theme would be on the night - resiliency. Panther Valley fought back to tie the game three different times late in the game, but the comeback effort was thwarted with two errors at the end of set one as it dropped a 25-23 decision.The Panthers got back into the game in the second match of the night, and this time it was them that got out to the big lead 12-6. Tied at 14-14, Panther Valley went through its toughest time of the evening, but showed that resiliency factor once again.After an 8-0 Minersville run gave it a 22-14 lead, the Panthers came all the way back to steal game two, 26-24.Believe it or not, the Panthers played the role of grave digger once again, getting down 9-1 to start the third set. It would take Panther Valley a little while to dig its way out, but it eventually battled back to take the lead 17-15 midway through the game.With the game tied at 20-20, the Panthers got some big time senior leadership from do-it-all player Danielle Hudicka. Hudicka showed her prowess from the service line, reeling off five straight points, including three deadly aces to finish off the Miners, 25-20. Finding a closer in pressure situations is huge and Hudicka provided just that for the Panthers. She finished with 17 service points and an impressive 10 aces."I always stay pretty calm when I serve, and tonight I knew we needed me to play well from there with the situation we were in," said Hudicka. "I was able to get the ball over the net with confidence, and the more success I had, the better I felt."In the fourth, there was no comeback needed on the Panther Valley side of the net. The Panthers were in finish mode and the closest the Miners would get would be a two -point deficit at 15-13. From then on, the Panthers would go on a 10-1 run. Panther Valley junior Christina Dacey, who led the Panthers in kills on the night with 12, finished off the Miners with a strike to the right corner to bring home the district crown."There's no better feeling than winning this district championship. We all worked so hard and put so much time in, so it's great to see it all pay off," said Dacey. "We're all just so happy and we love playing this game. We just kept fighting and we won."NEXT UP ... The Panthers now enter into the PIAA AA State Tournament. Their first matchup will be at home against District 1 2A champ New Hope at 6 p.m. Thursday.COLLECTIVE EFFORT ... Like it has been doing throughout the season, Panther Valley had a number of stat-stuffers on the night. Dacey added 11 assists and two aces to her 12 kills, and Hudicka added 20 assists to her impressive night from the service line. Emilee Kwaak had 10 kills and three aces. Freshman Jenna Dubosky came through with seven kills, 12 digs, and three blocks. Rachelle Filer had five kills, Chloe Markovich four blocks, and Sydney Clouser protected the PV back line all night, accumulating 18 digs