Coach Liz Meyr considers 18-year-old Ellie Gerler one of the best players on her Perryville High School girls’ volleyball team. While the season has been mixed so far, Meyr has come to lean heavily on Gerler, the team’s middle hitter.
Gerler plays in the middle front of the court, covering both defensive and offensive play. On defense, Gerler covers the center area on the net and tries to block any attack with the opposite and outside hitter. On offense, she must be able to read the set and adjust.
The daughter of Jaimy Brown and Scott Gerler, the long and lanky senior was a veteran volleyball player by the time she joined the Pirates’ varsity volleyball team in her sophomore year.
“I’ve been involved in volleyball for nine years,” Gerler said in an interview with the Republic-Monitor. “I've been playing since third or fourth grade. My older sister was doing it, so I decided to do the Little Diggers program.”
Asked if the team works well together, Gerler said, “We all get along very well. We all know each other good off of the court. I think it helps whenever we're on the court that we all have a connection and get along with each other. I guess that just goes along with all this stuff that we do all summer long and just having a lot of team bonding.”
According to Gerler, coach Meyr has played a big role in helping the team improve their performance on the court.
“She puts a lot of time into being there for us, trying new things for us and buying things for us to try,” Gerler said. “She started a new thing this year. We all have journals. We're all setting goals for ourselves and taking time out of some days to focus on the team's goals and our personal goals as well.”
Gerler added that the team’s assistant coaches — her mother and Trinity Riney — work closely with coach Meyr in helping to make the team the best it can be.
“I'm really excited for this season and to see how our team does because I feel like our team has a lot of talent this year,” she said.
Gerler has already set a course for the direction she intends to take after high school graduation.
“After I graduate, I plan on going to school to be a paramedic,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll have a lot of time to play volleyball in college, but I haven’t completely ruled it out yet.”
