Perkins County volleyball team serves up pair of wins
The Perkins County varsity volleyball team kicked off their season with a pair of wins at the triangular in Sutherland Thursday, Aug. 26 against Sutherland and Creek Valley.
The girls faced Creek Valley first and started the evening off strong with a 25-8 win over their opponents.
“I think going in we had confidence in being able to serve well against them and getting them out of system,” said Coach Monica Cole.
Creek Valley came back and took the second set of the night 25-21.
“In between sets we were prepared for them to come back and compete because that is what they did to Sutherland,” Cole said. “We just didn’t come out on top of that one.”
Perkins County closed out the final set with a score of 25-17, earning victory for that game.
“Seeing the girls bounce back in the third set to beat them 25-17 was great to see!” Cole noted.
Next, the girls faced Sutherland, and got off to a slightly rocky start, losing the first set to the Sailors 25-21.
The Lady Plainsmen picked up wins in the final two sets of the game, winning 25-16 and 25-20.
“Sutherland is just one that we always want to play well against and potentially come out on top,” Cole said. “We did that, and it was fun to see the girls compete for it, even after losing the first set. They were determined to compete and succeed!”
The girls ended the triangular 2-0, mirroring their results from the triangular versus Creek Valley and Sutherland last year, which also happened to be their first game of the 2020-2021 season.
Cole said it is always good to get out of the gate with two wins, but the energy this year is “electrifying.”
She added it is fun to watch the girls celebrate their success on the court, along with the bench and their support.
Some stats Cole was excited to see from the evening were the serving and hitting stats.
“Serving-wise, we served 90% with 11 aces in the Creek Valley game, and 84% with five aces in the Sutherland match,” she said.
The team had a rough second set of serving, Cole noted, adding that once they focused on the areas that they were trying to pick apart, the Lady Plainsmen’s serving was “outstanding.”
“Hitting-wise, we had all six of our hitters with kills,” she continued.
“It’s good that we can move the ball and have everyone contributing and not relying on a couple of people to get the job done. Our setters did a good job of moving the ball and getting the defensive blocks off so that we could get a good swing.”
As for what could use some work, Cole said the team’s serve-receive game can always improve.
“Just getting that ball in the disciplined target area more often is going to make us even more effective, so that is what we will be focusing on this week,” she said.
Cole also noted the junior varsity team was able to get a win in two sets before the varsity team played Thursday night, setting the tone for the night well.
Tuesday evening, Aug. 31, the Lady Plainsmen played in a home triangular against South Platte’s Blue Knights and the Brady Eagles.
See next week’s issue of the Tribune for details about this game.
Next Action
Thursday, Sept. 2, Perkins County’s jayvee and varsity volleyball teams will head to North Platte to face the St. Pat’s at 4:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, Sept. 7 they will host another triangular with Wallace and Hitchcock County starting at 4:15. Games will kick off with Perkins County versus Hitchcock County, followed by Hitchcock County versus Wallace, and ending the evening of games with Perkins County versus Wallace.
“We are ready to play more games!” Cole said. “We know that we are going to have to come out big and strong right away and take care of business from the serving line out of the gate.”