ORWIGSBURG – Ka Boom!

The noise you heard coming off the sweltering gymnasium floor on the Blue Mountain High School campus was the celebration by the host Eagles.

The only team standing in the way of a perfect regular season for the Panther Valley volleyball team stood the tallest. Blue Mountain posted a 25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22 victory on Thursday to end the Panthers gallant quest for regular season perfection.

It was not you typical night of dominance from an extremely talented Panther Valley squad, which kept battling despite not having its normal ‘A’ game.

A lot of the credit for that goes to the Eagles, however, as they attacked the net with aggression.

“We wanted to keep putting the pressure on them,” said Blue Mountain coach Nick Marrongelle. “Hey that is a very, very talented volleyball team. They kept after us, we knew we had to be aggressive around the net. We wanted to keep the pedal on them.”

In other words — no let up.

“This is just a bump in the road. We know what we have to work on,” said Panther Valley coach Nancy Filer. “We have a lot of heart, and I think our girls will grow with the loss.”

Even though its sensational sophomore middle hitter Erika Dubosky reached the 200-ace plateau during the match, the highlights were limited to the third set where Panther Valley battled back from a 16-13 deficit to storm to a 25-21 victory.

The comeback looked like it might light a fuse for Panther Valley as it clawed in front 6-1 to open the fourth set.

Panther Valley still led 21-17 after a service ace from Lyddia Malaska and a perfectly played soft kill by Jenna Dubosky.

But that’s when the Eagles made their move.

A PV return error and a called double-hit seemed to wear on the hopes of the undefeated. Within minutes, Blue Mountain was suddenly in front, 24-22. An emphatic monster kill from Maddie Gordon capped the closing 8-1 run that finished off the Eagles’ victory.

“I know it’s an excuse, but this place was just so hot and the floor conditions were terrible,” said Filer.

It was something that Blue Mountain knew could be an advantage.

“Yeah, it’s hot here,” smiled Marrongello before the game, agreeing the conditions could be a factor in his teams’ favor.

UP NEXT ... Panther Valley opens the expanded Schuylkill Volleyball League playoffs on Monday. The Division 2 champion Panthers (12-1, 15-1) will meet Division 3 runner-up Millersburg in a quarterfinal round match at 5:30 p.m. at Lehighton.

HOT, HOT, HOT

… The gym was boiling. The sweat and humidity affected play as a stoppage of play, was needed several times to wipe the floor dry.

BY THE NUMBERS

… Olivia Dacey led the Panthers in kills with 13, while Erika Dubosky added eight. Jenna Dubosky had 21 assists, while teammate Sarah Zabroski had 18. Emilee Kwaak had 12 service points and Sarah Zabroski added 11. Erika Dubosky had 13 digs. Gordon led the winners with 13 kills, teammate Grace Andrefski added nine. Cheyenne Stein collected a huge 39 assists and Jocelyn Marshall recorded 24 digs.

UNDEFEATED YES

… The Panther Valley JV team won its 16th-straight match without a loss on the season. The most remarkable part of the streak for coach Lisa Trubilla’s team is that it defeated every opponent in two sets, except for the 2-1 win over Jim Thorpe.