After tying for third place in the 2A/3A Wesco League standings last year, the Snohomish Panthers have their sights set on an even higher finish this season. Judging from their performance Tuesday against the Mountlake Terrace Hawks, the Panthers look to be heading in the right direction.

Snohomish needed just 70 minutes to easily put away the Hawks 3-0 (25-9, 25-13, 25-17) in a Wesco League match-up played at Mountlake Terrace High School.

The Panthers dominated all aspects of play, especially at the net against the over-matched Hawks. Snohomish scored 33 of their 75 points via the kill, 10 by senior Roz Gillie.

Terrace Coach Rene Noeun was disappointed with her squad’s effort against the Panthers. “It was a tough loss, but it was one of those things where we should have rose to the occasion,” she said. “They’re a solid team; they’re very good. And for some reason we just didn’t want to show up today unfortunately.”

For Noeun, the lack of energy and execution stung even more considering the third place showing her team had at the Ephrata Varsity Volleyball Tournament on Sept. 16.

“The fire’s there – we beat a 4A team (in the Ephrata tourney),” Noeun stated. “They know it’s in there, it’s in there somewhere. We just have to find in more consistently.”

With the loss to Snohomish on Tuesday, Terrace dropped to 0-2 in Wesco League competition this season.

The week doesn’t get any easy for the Hawks as they next travel to Arlington on Thursday, Sept. 21, to face  the 2016 2A/3A Wesco League champions Eagles. First serve at Arlington High School is set for 7 p.m.

Prep Volleyball: Snohomish at Mountlake Terrace, Sept. 19

Snohomish 3 – Mountlake Terrace 0 (25-9, 25-13, 25-17)

Records: Mountlake Terrace 0-2 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 1-3 overall; Snohomish 1-0 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 3-0 overall

Mountlake Terrace next match: versus Arlington, Thursday, Sept. 21, 7 p.m. at Arlington High School

–By Doug Petrowski