Last Thursday’s volleyball season opener was a little chaotic for the Perryville Lady Pirates in the wake of a jamboree earlier in the week that left them without their setter.
Playing in front of a packed house at the Perryville Middle School gym — the Lady Pirates’ temporary home while the district recovers from spring tornado damage — Perryville (0-1) suffered a 3-1 (23-25, 23-25, 25-23, 17-25) loss to Park Hills Central (1-0).
The Lady Pirates, hampered by a handful of preseason injuries, performed well despite being forced to learn a new lineup in one day, prompting coach Liz Meyr to admit her team showed her some good things on the court.
“We ended up going four sets, so I can’t hate that,” Meyr said. “Overall, they played pretty good considering they learned that lineup in one day. I do think we still possibly could have won that game if we didn’t have so many errors but that’s okay. They worked really hard and hustled hard and that’s what I’m looking for.”
Freshman setter Kaeli Klaus, filling in for junior setter Paige Berkbigler, who suffered a high-ankle sprain during the team’s preseason jamboree appearance, had a strong game for the Lady Pirates, finishing with 15 assists, 8 kills and 3 aces.
“The girls had a different setter for the first time,” Meyr said. “She’s a freshman. She had to step in to fill Paige’s role a little bit and the hitters are getting used to her sets. She had a good night, especially for a freshman getting used to a whole new team.”
Junior Emma Blechle finished with 11 kills for Perryville, followed by junior Sunny Carroll with 10. Sophomore Jersi Geile had 5 kills and 4 blocks. Senior Allyson Burns had 14 assists.
In addition to playing without Berkbigler, the Lady Pirates had two other injured players, further complicating the game plan, but Meyr said her team adjusted well despite the loss.
“My whole coaching staff was very thrilled with the way the girls performed with the new lineup,” Meyr said. “After learning it one day, the hustle and the heart of the girls really showed through. Our center that’s injured is a great support to the team, and she is looking forward to returning at some point during the season. She’s already getting antsy after one night.
“We have three girls on the injured list right now. We hope to have them all healthy by districts, but only time will tell.”
Meyr said an unusual number of errors, both at the service line and in team communication, likely contributed to the loss.
“We did have quite a few errors in ways that we’re not used to,” Meyr said. “We had 14 serving errors, which my team typically does not have. Last season we hardly had any serving errors. We’re working on the communication still in this new lineup. So that could have been the difference of the whole entire game.”
The Lady Pirates’ next home game will be Sept. 11, when they will host the Ste. Genevieve Lady Dragons on Alumni Appreciation Night.
