Photos by Samantha Davis. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton sophomore Allie Adams hits a kill over Ortonville in the first set on Tuesday night at home. The Panthers won in three sets and Adams had five kills on the night. Below: The team celebrates after winning a point against Ortonville. Senior Kyli Carter collected a team-high 11 kills.

TRACY — In an ongoing effort to find its rhythm for success with an experienced roster, a new coach and a desire to have a winning season after a 2023 9-20 overall campaign, the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Panthers defeated the Ortonville Trojans Tuesday night in straight sets. 

With game scores of 25-10, 25-14 and 25-17, several players rotated in pacing the offense as senior Kyli Carter collected 11 kills, and Braelynn Kirk and Allie Adams added six and five. The majority of kills were assisted by setter Allison Edwards.

Libero Teagan Vissman led the team with nine digs.

“We started out the match with keeping out mistakes and errors to a minimum,” TMB head coach Heather Kamrud-Rice said. “Anytime your offense can get going, it kind of takes some pressure off your defense. Our defense was able to make some good plays, I think too.” 

TMB and Ortonville entered the evening with similar records, with the Panthers sitting at 3-7 and the Trojans at 2-6. In games lost so far this season, TMB has, for the most part, been within single-digit deficits in sets they have dropped. But, they continue to hone down on specific turning points in matches and fix errors. 

“We are still turning, it’s definitely not a sharp turn, we are a big semi-trailer making our way around the corner,” Kamrud-Rice said. “It was tough at the beginning of the season to take some of those losses. The first time it happens, you tell the players, ‘We’re going to get better from this match … There was a point where they got frustrated with hearing, ‘This will make us better,’ until they started seeing that it was making them better.” 

Carter and Adams led the team last year in kills, and continue to portray the same role again this season. Both of them contributed to offense early as Carter gathered three kills and Adams with four in their first-set victory.  

TMB jumped to a 14-7 lead in the first and forced a Trojan timeout, as Ankrum and Adams both had a pair of kills already and Ortonville committed a handful of errors, giving the Panthers some easy points.

Following the timeout, TMB continued to shut out their opponents comfortably, as Edwards, Adams and Kirk consistently guarded the net up front on defense. 

Ortonville started the second set with determination to slow the Panther’s momentum and forced a timeout with a 9-8 lead. 

“The second set got away from us for a little bit,” Kamrud-Rice said. “I will never underestimate as a team, when you can come back from [a deficit], whoever is on the other side of the net, that’s a mental battle. Anytime we do that, we just get better.” 

TMB gathered themselves back after the reset, charged by another kill from Carter and Kirk. A few more Trojan turnovers from failed service receives allowed the Panthers to create a 20-12 lead.

Kirk recorded another kill, assisted from Edwards and Ortonville overserved for the Panthers to take set two, and inch closer to getting back in the win column in dominant style. 

The third set began tied at five after Adams hit a soft floater over the net to the Trojan’s far left side of the court. 

Both sides committed errors to keep the last set point for point until Ortonville’s defense began to heat up and left TMB looking for a response. The Panthers called a timeout with an 11-9 deficit. 

“They [Ortonville] were putting up some big blocks. They were not letting up on us,” Kamrud-Rice said. “It was nice to see the girls rally back together and really fight to get back to the fundamentals and really control the pass. Our passers were a big part of the game tonight too, passing tight on the net.” 

Carter, Kirk and Ankrum brought life back to the court, spiking a few more kills. Kirk grabbed a far save in the back left corner of TMB’s side to give it back to Carter, who hit it to Ortonville’s far backcourt for her tenth kill of the night, and an 18-15 lead. 

“Kyli is just fun to coach, she has got this different energy. It’s fun and yet competitive like she is deeply competitive,” Kamrud-Rice said. “She’s always one thing that I can guarantee … For her to miss the serve, that’s uncharacteristic like she’s so focused on those things. She’s locked in.”

The Panthers continued to climb to a 24-17 lead and grabbed the match point and overall victory by a Trojan error in trying to return the ball. 

Ankrum, Adams and Kirk have stepped into large roles on the team as sophomores. 

“Braelynn brings a ton of energy, and she’s always a go-getter. She just has that drive … Melaina, she is one that I think is just ready to come on. She’s got a strong left arm, and she’s got a really high volleyball I.Q. She can see the court really well,” Kamrud-Rice said. “Allie Adams brings probably the most experience out of our sophomores, and it shows in the way she plays her fundamentals. She’s always off the net and ready, she’s always there for the blocks.” 

Kamrud-Rice, who used to play for the Panthers herself, is now about halfway through her first season coaching at the helm of the varsity. 

“A lot comes at you. I think maybe later, at the end of the season, I might reflect and have all these thoughts on how it went,” Kamrud-Rice said. “I’m kind of an in-the-moment person, and while we are in it, I am just rallying and we are going for it 100 percent.”

TMB’s wins this year so far come from Red Rock Central in the season opener, Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda in the Marshall Challenge tournament and Lac Qui Parle Valley last Tuesday. Every win this season has now been in consecutive set shutouts. 

The Panthers, 4-7, will next travel to Central Minnesota Christian School on Thursday for a 7 p.m. start time. 

“Now, I feel like we’re starting to get around that corner, and we’re all starting to drive in the same direction,” Kamrud-Rice said. “We’re definitely not an end product yet, but I love the direction that the girls have been going. They have been working hard.”