LAKEVILLE, Minn. -- For the second time in 10 days, fourth-ranked Lakeville North knocked off the state's top-ranked team, dealing No. 1 Eagan a 19-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-22 defeat.
It was just 10 days ago when then top-ranked Champlin Park invaded the North Gym at Lakeville North High School, leaving with its first loss of season.
This time around, it was a Wildcat team which just five days earlier had handed the Panthers a 2-1 loss in the semifinals of Apple Valley's Eagle Invitational, Saturday.
The visitors rolled out to a big lead in the opening set, leading by as many as nine points, at 16-7, before North went on a 9-3 run to close to within four points, at 20-16.
Eagan rebounded to close out the opening frame with a six-point win and would hold a 12-9 lead in the second set before the Panthers began to take control.
A pair of kills by Elizabeth Juhnke would help North even the score at 12-12 and the teams would be tied two more times before an Abbey Milner kill gave North a 15-14 lead and, from that point, the Panthers would not trail the remainder of the match.
North dominated the latter half of the second set and throughout the third set, when the Panthers held the Wildcats to a -.026 hitting performance.
Tori Thompson led the Panthers with 16.5 points on 10 kills, six aces and a block assist.
Macy Winter had 15 kills and eight digs versus the Wildcats.
North also scored points on two-thirds of its serves, 16 of 24, in the third set as the Panthers scored the opening point of the set and were never tied and never trailed.
The fourth set saw the Panthers take a quick, five-point lead, at 6-1, and would expand the lead to six points, at 9-3, before the Wildcats mounted a comeback.
However, they would only manage a brief tie, at 10-10, before a Juhnke kill gave North the lead again and back-to-back service aces by Tori Thompson opened the gap once again.
Eagan would not go away but they could not overcome the momentum which the hosts had amassed by that point.
The Panthers had one of its most balanced team efforts of the season as four players were in double-figures in points.
Thompson led the way with 16.5 points on 10 kills, a career-high six aces and a block assist.
Juhnke recorded 15.5 points with 15 kills and a block assist while Macy Winter had 15 kills as well.
Maddy Hornyak matched her season high of 11 points with six kills, four aces and two block assists.
North limited Eagan to a .145 hitting performance thanks in large part to a defense which recorded 78 digs. Juhnke had 17 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Meanwhile, Halle Wolfe had a match-high 28 digs.
The Panthers have just one match next as they host Apple Valley in a 7 p.m. match on Tuesday, Oct. 2
