CHILLICOTHE — Smooth sailing.
That’s how Southeastern volleyball coach Brittany Lougheed’s debut went.
Behind a total team effort, with scoring spurts led by captains Kylee Dunn and Calley Stauffer, the Panthers breezed to a season-opening sweep of Minford on Monday by a 25-13, 25-11, 25-20 final.
One win down. Many more — hopefully — to go.
“I just told the girls, ‘I’m so proud to be your coach.’ And I really am,” Lougheed said. “In your first year of coaching, with this group, I mean, how lucky can you get? I’m still a little shaky. But it’s exciting. It’s wonderful to have [the win] and I’m glad we got it tonight.”
Dunn, who had 313 kills last fall, played as advertised all evening.
The Panthers’ junior middle hitter provided an overpowering presence at the net as she habitually found open spots on the floor to slam sets home.
She gave Southeastern (1-0) its first lead of the night at 1-0 with a match-opening kill, later extended the lead to 13-7 with a block, and eventually rounded out the set’s final with a kill.
“I just try to bring energy for all of the girls,” Dunn said. “Even if we’re down, I just say, ‘You’re good. You’ve got the next one.’ Or sometimes, I just say, ‘Set me.’ Even when the pressure is on, I just feel like I know that I can do it because the girls around me build me up.”
In the second, it was Stauffer’s turn to take the reins.
After Briley Kirkbride paced the Panthers to a 4-0 start, Stauffer later logged a block and an ace to make it a 9-2 count. She’d then help her teammates build leads of 17-5 and 20-10 before posting back-to-back kills to end the set at 25-11.
“She’s always talking out there,” Lougheed said of Stauffer. “She’s talking to all of the kids. I would almost consider her as a mom of the group. You could say that. You see her communicating and leading, and today, she was getting balls that could’ve been out. She’s a big-time hustler. She just seems to be everywhere and that’s what I love about her.”
Minford (0-1) fought back in the third.
After Dunn and Jade Turner put Southeastern ahead 9-8 in the early going, the Falcons took a 10-9 lead and led 12-10 at one point.
“In that third set, [Minford] had 10 points and all 10 of those were on our errors,” Lougheed said. “We need to clean that up, especially when they’re back-to-back, you know? When we’re serving, we have to get that first one over. Then, we can kind of get a little more aggressive.”
Even while facing a small deficit, Dunn wouldn’t be denied.
Alongside help from Stauffer and Macy Stanley, she willed Southeastern to a 14-13 lead and the Panthers never trailed again. Dunn made it 18-16 before Stauffer logged a kill for a 23-19 count.
The night’s final point came from SE setter Macy Strausbaugh, who posted a kill to polish off a five-point win and hand Lougheed her first coaching victory.
“I thought we really came together as a team, played low and we were aggressive,” Lougheed said. “We were pretty confident with our hitting today, so I think those things were the key to it.”
Southeastern is back in action on Tuesday night, traveling to Jackson.
The Panthers will then make a trip to Eastern Pike on Aug. 29 before opening SVC play on Sept. 1, hosting Huntington.
“We don’t ever want to take another team lightly,” Lougheed said. “I don’t care what teams it is or how many players they have. If they have six kids in total, we cannot take them lightly. I think we’re ready and I think we’re prepared. We just have to get a little more conditioned.”
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Southeastern volleyball cruises to win in Lougheed's coaching debut
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