Perryville volleyball team debuts with sweep of Central

Perryville started off its 2011 season with a bang.

The Pirates, the runner-up in Class 3 District 1 last season, dominated host Central in a 25-13, 25-12 victory.

"You never know how the first game is going to go," Perryville coach Dave Mirly said. "We had one of our starters injured tonight so we had a couple girls in different spots, and they stepped up and did a good job for us."

Perryville used strong hitting to control play throughout the match.

Meanwhile, the Tigers (0-2) struggled to get their offense going.

Perryville's Kaylie Hadler(10) and Natalie Gremaud(3) block a spike attempt by Central's Katie Williams during the their first game of Tuesday's match at Central. Perryville won 2-0. (Laura Simon)

"We've been working hard in practice ever since the beginning of summer," Pirates junior Natalie Gremaud said. "We're just ready to come out here and play. Our passing wasn't very well in the very beginning, but we picked it up in the second game. Our hitting was really good. We kept the ball in. I don't know if we hit any balls out."

Central compounded Perryville's hitting with numerous unforced errors.

"The first game our serving was terrible," Central coach Angela Broshuis said. "It pretty much took us out of the game. We were down five most of the game and we missed six serves. You can't really do that against Perryville -- they're a good club. If you have unforced errors they pretty much take control of the game, and that's what happened."

Central pulled to within 13-10 in the first game, but the Pirates went on a 12-3 run to close out the Tigers. Gremaud scored the game's final four points.

"My hitting was really good," Gremaud said. "My sets were perfect from my teammates."

Central's Megan Myers sets the ball for a teammate during the second game.

Gremaud was constantly in the mix with her well-rounded game.

"Natalie does a phenomenal job," Mirly said. "She's a great player for us. She's one of our strongest hitters, one of our captains, runs a couple of different spots on the front row and sets for us. She's everywhere. She touches the ball almost every time it comes over the net for us."

The Pirates jumped on the Tigers in the second game, taking a 7-1 lead.

"I keep reminding them, it's important to maintain a high intensity level," Mirly said. "It's something that we work on in practice, and tonight we were able to execute that."

The Pirates stretched the lead to 18-6, dominating play at the net.

Perryville's Alex Spears bumps the ball.

"Perryville's got a good club," Broshuis said. "They control the ball really well. And we were giving them way too many free balls. Give them the free ball and they're going to pretty much put the ball down every time. It wasn't really our blockers' fault. We just need to run more of an offense."

Central won three straight points to get within 20-11, but the Tigers never really threatened.

"I think [we] fell out of it the first game," Broshuis said. "They didn't really have the confidence to come back. And they started making mental errors in the second game. I don't think they really believed in themselves and they put the ball on the 10-foot line every time.

"If we can't have an offense, we're not going to be able to beat good teams like this. I think we could be competitive with them, but unless we get an offense in the game then we're not going to win too many ballgames against clubs like this."ff