Size can be so misleading.

Take Northwestern volleyball player Daisy Stringer, for example. The junior, outside hitter is only 5-3, but she sure can hit the ball.

Stringer was brutal Wednesday night against Panther Valley, as she inflicted 17 kills, amassed 22 digs and hit three service aces.

But it wasn’t just Stringer who played a major role, as the entire squad came with a lot of energy, said head coach Mike Maston.

That energy was obvious, and the result was a stunning upset in the quarterfinal round of District 11 Class 3A play. The Tigers, seeded seventh, defeated Panther Valley, seeded second, 3-1.

“This was a huge win tonight,” Maston said. “We always had a tough time playing here (in the Panther Valley gym) but our girls came in, ready to play. They were on fire. They had a lot of energy tonight.”

It appeared as if Northwestern completely caught the Panthers off guard in the first game, winning by a lopsided 25-12 score. During one segment, they outscored PV 17-3.

Northwestern won the second game 25-20, lost game three by a 25-22 score, and capped the evening with a 25-18 win in the fourth game.

The momentum from the first game continued to the second, with the Tigers jumping out to an 11-5 lead.

Maston attributes preparation as the main reason for their victory.

During the event, especially in the first game, PV left some large openings in the middle and the Tigers capitalized, directing the ball to the gaps.

“Our key was, we had some practices,” Maston said. “We actually watched a lot of film on these guys to see what their tendencies and all that were. We tried to use it against them, and obviously it seemed like it worked.”

Of the opening in PV’s defense, Maston said, “That’s what we were looking at in the film — the spots that they leave open a lot. It’s not always how hard you hit it; it’s finding that open spot on the court.”

On the other hand, there were very few gaps in the NW defense, as their play off the net apparently proved frustrating at times to PV.

“They didn’t play their best,” Panther Valley coach Nancy Filer solemnly said. “They played with heart, but they didn’t play their best.”

At times it seemed as though PV tried too hard, getting blocks but having them go out of bounds and attempting spikes that went too far.

The Panthers have excellent servers, but several net serves occurred, which wasn’t an issue throughout most of the season.

Still, some Panthers had some pretty impressive stats.

Morgan Orsulak, the senior who has been Miss Dependable all year, had 22 kills, 12 assists and two service points. In the third game, Northwestern went up 13-5, during which Orsulak got six of her kills and brought PV within two, 15-13. Eventually the Panthers pulled ahead 24-19, then hung on to win by three.

Early in the first game, PV took leads of 4-2, 6-4 and 9-7 before the Tigers went into attack mode. Northwestern went on a nine-point spree to go ahead 16-10. Another seven-point rally made the score 24-11.

NW looked dominant at the start of game two, taking an 11-4 lead. PV did rally, though, and came back to knot the score at 16. Four straight points by NW, including a kill by Stringer, put the Tigers ahead 20-16.

Game three also looked like it would belong to the Tigers, as they bounded in front 13-5. Orsulak got into her groove and brought the Panthers back, tying the score at 15. The rest of the game belonged to PV, though, with junior JaeLynn Browdy doing some damage with her hard hitting.

The final game began with the two teams battling evenly. At one point the score was 10-10, but PV never led again with the Tigers clawing to a 19-13 lead.

“They tried very hard, said Filer of her team. “They were trying too hard.”

DISTRICT PLAY CONTINUES ... The loss eliminates Panther Valley from District 11 competition, while Northwestern will play top-seeded Bethlehem Catholic at 5:30 p.m. Monday in Catasauqua.

A FEW STATS ... Besides Orsulak, Browdy had some impressive stats including eight kills, 23 assists, 15 service points, three aces and one dig. Jessica Hackash had two kills, three blocks, three service points and one dig. Both Browdy and Hackash are juniors. For Northwestern, Kayla Schaffer, a 5-5 sophomore, had 32 assists, 16 digs and three aces. Leah Nagle, a senior, had 32 assists, 16 digs and three aces.

COMMON OPPONENTS ... The two teams hadn’t met this season, but had played some common opponents, most of which were defeated by both teams. They both played Pottsville, with the Tigers losing to the Crimson Tide 3-0, while Panther Valley split two games. They also both played Blue Mountain, which Northwestern also lost 3-0, while the Panthers played them twice and split.

Northwestern 3, Panther Valley 1

Northwestern 25 25 22 25

Panther Valley 12 20 25 18

Records: Northwestern (17-8); Panther Valley (18-3).