Lady Plainsmen head into long week

The Perkins County varsity volleyball team added two wins and a loss to their record after a home triangular versus Wallace and Hitchcock County last Tuesday and a five-set game against Arthur County Monday.

PC Triangular

Tuesday, Sept. 7, Perkins County hosted a triangular with Hitchcock County’s Falcons and the Wallace Lady Cats.

The Lady Plainsmen faced Hitchcock County in the first game of the evening, and though the scores were close each set, the Falcons took the match in two sets, 25-20 and 25-23.

Hitchcock County then went on to defeat Wallace in two of three sets. The Lady Cats earned a win in the first set 25-20, but fell to Hitchcock County in the final two sets, 25-21 and 25-23.

Though the Lady Plainsmen started the evening with a loss, they came back to defeat the Lady Cats in just two sets, 25-22 and 25-20.

Coach Monica Cole said it was a wash for Perkins County last Tuesday.

“Our energy was null against Hitchcock County, but amazing against Wallace,” she noted. “We as coaches stressed the importance of being loud, energetic and ready to compete the entire game. They responded and bounced back very well against Wallace!”

Arthur County

Monday, Sept. 13, the Lady Plainsmen headed an hour north for a game against Arthur County.

Perkins County started the game strong, earning wins in the first two sets against the Arthur County Wolves 25-23 and 25-22.

“We were down 13-20 in the second set and came back to win that one to be up two sets to none,” Cole said, adding the girls battled well throughout the opening sets.

Arthur County then took sets three and four of the evening, 25-22 and 25-15, in what Cole described as “yet another close scoring battle.”

After set four, Cole said the girls knew they were going to have to show up and play big in the fifth and final set for 15 points.

“The girls handled the pressure of the marathon game and their energy, grit and competitiveness kicked in full force,” she said. “We killed ourselves on serving in the third and fourth sets, no question about that, so in the fifth set we knew we had to just get the ball into play and we could battle the rest.”

Katie Cook, Cole noted, served for four or five straight points, shifting momentum to the side of the Lady Plainsmen.

“We didn’t let it go after that!” Cole said.

Perkins County took the final set, winning the evening’s game 3-2, with a final score of 15-9.

“It is so satisfying for our team to be able to uplift one another and that we can count on people to get the job done when they are called to do it!” Cole said. “So many kudos to the girls and their perseverance! So proud of them!”

JV Tournament

The junior varsity team had the chance to show off their skills in the Garden County Junior Varsity Tournament Saturday, Sept. 11 in Oshkosh.

The jayvee Lady Plainsmen went 2-1 in the tournament, facing Alliance, South Platte and Bridgeport.

Alliance defeated Perkins County 2-0, but the Lady Plainsmen came back and won their final two games, beating South Platte 2-0 and Bridgeport 2-1.

“Those JV girls deserve so much credit!” Cole said. “They showed up to play on Saturday!”

She added she had noticed some nice setting hands in one of the team’s freshmen, so they created a setter for the tournament, “and she nailed it!”

Gracie Loy and Mackayla Wallin have also played quite a bit of ball by now, Cole noted, so she felt it was good to see their leadership and wisdom on the court. “The freshman girls are competitive and seeing their strength in all things has been fun to watch,” Cole said.

Next Action

The Lady Plainsmen will once again face South Platte, this time at South Platte’s triangular Thursday, Sept. 16.

South Platte and Paxton will kick off the day’s games at 4:30 p.m., followed by Paxton versus Perkins County and closing out the day with South Platte and Perkins County.

“The triangular is going to be a good night of battle, just as Arthur was Monday,” said Cole. “We have a huge week this week. We’re going to have to play with a lot of endurance, rest well when we can and perform top notch for the rest of the week.”

Saturday, Sept. 18 the girls will head to the Bridgeport Round Robin Tourney, which will begin at 9 a.m. Schools participating in Saturday’s tourney are Bridgeport, Leyton, Bayard and Perkins County.