The Saint Jo Lady Panthers had a repeat of last year’s heartbreak by losing in the regional final on Saturday to Blum.
The Lady Panthers beat Oakwood in the first round 3-1 on Friday before losing to the defending state champions in straight sets on Saturday.
Saint Jo was happy to be back in the regional tournament since many in the pre-season had the team penciled in to get there again after graduating only one player from last year’s team.
That player proved to be tougher to replace and everyone had to get used to their bigger roles while also dealing with higher expectations and playing a tougher pre-district schedule.
While sweeping through the district schedule with relative ease to win the district title, the team had tough playoff matches against Sulphur Bluff and Dodd City that went five and four sets.
Still, the Lady Panthers made it back and wanted another shot at the Lady Bobcats that ended their season the year before and had returned almost the same team after winning the state title.
Before that, Saint Jo had to get through an Oakwood team that had not played the type of team the it had and finished second in its district. Still, the Lady Panthers could not take the match for granted.
Saint Jo won the first set easily 25-13, but then slipped up in a close second set, losing by the narrowest margin 26-24 to tie the score at 1-1.
The next two sets were also close, but the Lady Panthers were in control down the stretch in both sets to win 25-22 and 25-21 to close the match 3-1.
Unfortunately, the matchup against defending state champion Blum went about the same as last year did. Saint Jo lost with the set scores being 25-17, 25-12 and 25-7.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.