Benicia High’s varsity volleyball team turned back visiting Albany for a 25-17, 21-25, 25-17, 25-18 victory Wednesday night in Benicia’s home opener.

It was the first win of the young season for the Lady Panthers (1-1) and avenged a four-set loss to Albany last year.

“They beat us last year so we really wanted to beat them this year,” said senior Jessica Blakeman, who 28 of Benicia’s 43 kills on the night. “We all worked well together as a team. We all meshed for the first time.”

“It was spectacular,” added senior libero Ramona Glatzel. “Our communication on the court was good and we had a lot of spirit. We really pumped it up.”

After splitting the first two sets, Benicia took early control of the third set and never let go. Each time Albany (0-3) would pull to within one or two points of Benicia’s lead, the Lady Panthers would clamp down and regain the momentum.

“Volleyball is a really big momentum game so we tried to shut them down and hold them to one serve,” Glatzel said.

Benicia led only 17-16 in the final set but rolled off four straight points to take command. A kill by senior Darian Dudley made it 22-16, a tip by Blakeman moved Benicia closer to match point and Blakeman put the Cougars away for good with a vicious kill down the left line.

Freshman Sara McBride added nine kills and junior Emily Maher had five kills for the Lady Panthers. Glatzel had three aces and 11 digs.

Benicia opened Solano County Athletic Conference play at Bethel on Thursday and hosts Vallejo next Tuesday.

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