NEW RICHLAND &045; Coach Jackie Schultz said the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers did a lot of things well.

The Bethlehem Academy Cardinals just did them better.

The Panthers absorbed their first loss of the season at Bethlehem Academy Thursday night, falling 3-1 in a battle for first in Gopher Conference volleyball.

&uot;I knew BA was tough, but I didn’t realize,&uot; said Schultz, whose team fell to 3-1 in the conference and 10-1 overall.

After falling behind 8-0 in game one, the Panthers rallied to win 15-10.

From there it was all BA as the home team won 15-0, 15-0, 15-2.

After serving 25-for-25 the first game, the Panthers were 18-for-21 the rest of the way. At one point the Cardinals registerd 14 consecutive side outs.

The Panthers’ leaders: Emily Hagen 8-for-9 serving, four kills, six blocks; Kalisha Anthony 11-for-11, three kills, 10 digs; Erin Anderson 8-for-9, six blocks, 18 assists; Camille Kyte 6-for-6, five kills, six blocks; Chelsy Quiram 6-for-6, 10 blocks, three kills; Mackensie Tappe five blocks.

Earlier in the week, the Panthers dominated United South Central 15-0, 15-10, 15-6.

The leaders: Hagen 14-for-14, 13 kills; Anthony 15-for-15, three aces, three kills, five blocks; Anderson 6-for-6, 25 assists; Kyte five kills; Quiram 21-for-21, two aces; Emily Horan 5-for-5.

The Panthers are in action Tuesday with a Gopher Conference match at Blooming Prairie.