Chassell’s Whitney Walitalo (2), Gaia Benvenuti (middle) and Megan Holombo (2) hold the back line in a match against Ironwood Monday at the Ed Helakoski Gym in Chassell. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)

CHASSELL — It was Parents Night on the Chassell High School volleyball court. The Panthers said goodbye to their sole senior Kylee Sohlden, and battled hard, but lost, to the Ironwood Red Devils in three straight sets, 25-15, 25-15 and 25-15.

“It was definitely a team win tonight,” said Ironwood coach Lisa Fechter. “Everybody got in, and we passed well and swung hard.”

In the first set, the Red Devils jumped out to a 5-3 lead, but the Panthers tied it at eight. However, that is as good as it got.

The Red Devils moved ahead to a 12-9 lead and an eventual 18-13 lead. That turned into a opening set win.

“We swung really hard in the opening set,” added Fechter. “We tend to get tip happy, but that only goes so far. I was very happy with the play of Breleigh Lahti and Audra Pawlak, who both had strong games at the net.”

The second set started out much the same. While the Red Devils were able to jump out to a 5-0 lead, the Panthers got within two points at 9-7. However, when Olivia Vandenburg came to the line for the Red Devils, she widened the game from a two-point lead to a nine-point advantage. The second set ended in a win for Ironwood by the same score as the first set.

At the start of the third set, the Panthers had their one and only lead of the night. The two teams were tied at two and again at four before the Panthers went ahead 6-5 and 7-6. The Red Devils, however, stayed on the course and pushed out to a 12-8 lead. With Ironwood’s Hanna Vaughn serving, the lead moved to 18-11, and the set and match ended shortly after in Ironwood’s favor.

For Chassell, Dusty Lippold had four kills. Whitney Walitalo had two kills, two aces, a block and a block assist. Sohlden also had two kills and two block assists.

Megan Holombo had nine digs.

Panthers coach Kim Aho really liked the effort her girls put in throughout the game.

“They stuck with it and did not give up,” she said. “That has not always been the case. We are getting better. We are playing a little better each game.”

UP NEXT

The Panthers will welcome Watersmeet to Chassell on Thursday for their last regular season game. Opening serve is set for 6:30 p.m.