The Centralia Panthers volleyball team entered the 1A-D1 State Tournament in Dodge City with high expectations as the 3-seed at 35-5, but 6-seed Spearville gave them all they could handle in the first match of pool play. 

The Lancers (33-7) rallied to defeat the Panthers (35-6) in three sets 25-13, 21-25, and 21-25. 

Centralia dominated the first set going on a stretch where they poured in eight straight points and nine of 10 down the stretch to put the Lancers away. 

Set two was much tighter as neither team ever led by more than four points. Spearville led 13-9 and was able to keep Centralia at bay as the Panthers never saw a lead in set two after they led 7-6 early. 

Centralia started off set three with a 7-3 lead but Spearville came roaring back to take the lead 8-7. Both teams went back and forth and the Panthers eventually built an 18-15 lead but Spearville took all the momentum away by scoring nine of the last 12 points and six of the last seven to pull the upset win. 

Centralia needs a win and will take on 7-seed Burlingame in Dodge City with a rough start time scheduled for 11:00 AM and the game broadcasted on 92.1 KMZA.