Lady Pirates rout Ranger

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PERRIN – After a successful opening weekend at the Covington VolleyballTournament, the Texas Girls Coaches Association ranked Perrin No.2 in Class A.

The Lady Pirates, which went a perfect 7-0 for the weekend to pace a 9-1 overall week, took to the floor Aug. 16 against visiting Ranger unaware of its ranking. The squad played like it deserved it in the first game but played like it needs some work in the last two games of a 25-13, 25-19, 25-22 win.

Now 10-1 for the campaign, Perrin Coach Rebekah Bland said her squad didn’t play like a state-ranked team.

“We’ve got to step it up and eliminate the small mistakes,” Bland offered following the 58-minute match. “We came out with a lot of energy in game one but we need to keep that for three games.”

Bland was very pleased with the way her squad served vs. the Lady Bulldogs and that started from the get-go. Makenna Mathis rolled off eight straight points, including four aces, for a 9-0 lead. Perrin took advantage of a disoriented start from the visitors, with sophomore Kenadee Langham and senior Aaliyah Brown laying down kills to keep the drive alive.

Ranger got within 6-11 only to have Langham serve up four straight points to put the hostesses up 16-6. Natasha Frissell’s pair extended the lead to 18-7. Brown’s second kill of the game broke serve and set the table for her serving pair as Perrin took a 21-8 advantage. Mathis ended game one like she started, this time with a pair with Langham’s kill finishing the job.

Mathis opened game two with a four-point string, including consecutive aces to open. Something came alive inside the Lady ‘Dogs at this point as the visitors stayed very close the rest of the match. Ranger tied game two at five and eventually led 10-9.

A Mathis kill broke Ranger’s serve and allowed Erika Hernandez to serve up three points for a 14-11 lead. Mathis put home two more points to extend the lead to five.

Just when it looked like the Lady Pirates were back in control of the affair, Ranger would take an 18-17 lead. The squads were knotted at 19 before Langham broke serve with a kill. Jessa Angelly finished with alive-point string, which included an ace, to put Perrin up 2-0 in the best-of-five match.

Ranger went up 2-0 in the finale but a Langham kill and Mathis point tied the game.

The game went back and forth with Ranger leading 19-16 at one point. Perrin broke serve before Angelly put down consecutive aces to knot the game at 19. The ties went back and forth until Perrin broke serve at 22-all.

Having had enough, Brown laid down three points to end the match.