October 31, 2006
Old Westbury,NY- Senior night 2006 will be remembered by this Panther group for a lifetime. With a school record of 22 wins going into the final game of the regular season and home finale, the sensational senior core that guided this team to a record year, took the court as they squared off against Mount Saint Mary College.
A milestone was hit when Senior Jessica Ratchford took the court with 998 career digs, and racked up 3 digs which helped guide the Panther's to a 30-17 victory in game one while breaking the 1,000 dig plateau. Ratchford finished the game with 14 digs and 1,012 for her career. The second game looked like a blowout until Mount Saint Mary's called a timeout trailing 21-14. Suddenly a charge ignited from the Mount Saint Mary's (9-23 overall, 3-4 conference) huddle, and went onto rally for a 30-27 game two victory. That was the only good moment to live in for the visiting Blue Knights and was put to rest as Senior Nihal Boz sparked the Panthers to a 30-12 game three victory that included three service aces. The senior group was rounded out by the impact performances of Stacey Dubin (31 digs), Jennifer Hoyt (6 kills, 9 digs) and Jennifer Ragone (33 sets, 10 digs). In the final game, the Panthers held on for the 30-26 victory which ended on a set by Ragone and a kill by Hoyt, which will be remembered in the history books at Old Westbury College.
The Panthers collected a school record 23rd win season, capping off an impressive regular season (23-14 overall, 6-2 conference). The Panthers head to Steven's Institute of Technology on Saturday November 4, for a 12:00 PM match-up against conference rival, Farmingdale Rams.