Perryville volleyball team sweeps Saxony Lutheran in straight sets

Perryville volleyball coach Dave Mirly knows what he's getting each time his team takes the court, and Thursday night was no different.

Saxony Lutheran's raucous student section failed to slow down the Pirates, who knocked off the host Crusaders 25-18, 25-19 in straight sets, and Mirly was once again pleased to see a consistent effort from his squad.

"We're always ready to play, which makes it easy on me," Mirly said. "Saxony had a big crowd here tonight. It was a great atmosphere. Our girls thrive on that, even if they're cheering against us. Our girls just love the intensity level to be high, and they thrive in loud environments. I was really pleased with how we came out and played."

Perryville (12-8-2) took the lead for good at 2-1 before Saxony (11-8-2) drew within a point again at 7-6, but back-to-back kills from Ahnie Hoff sparked a 5-0 run for the Pirates, who extended their lead to 12-6.

Perryville's Brooke Hogard spikes the ball against Saxony Lutheran's Logan Franke (3) and Claire Petzoldt (15) in the first set Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015 at Saxony Lutheran High School. (Glenn Landberg)

Hoff finished with a match-high 12 kills, and Mirly was elated with the performance from his senior outside hitter.

"I saw that the Saxony blockers were a little late getting to her, so I told her, 'Don't tip. Just keep swinging until they block you, and if they block you, keep swinging through it,'" Mirly said. "She was just hitting so strong. We ran her out of the middle a couple times, ran the left side a couple times, which made it hard for them to pick up where she was at. It really paid off."

The Crusaders were able to cut their deficit to 13-10, but the Pirates outscored Saxony 12-8 in the final 20 points of the set, including a set-clinching kill from Hoff.

"We always are prepared for a [match] like this," Hoff said. "... We have total trust in each other, and we have fun on the court. We play our game, not their's."

The second set, which featured eight ties and six lead changes, didn't come nearly as easy for the Pirates.

Three consecutive aces from Logan Franke, who finished with four, gave the Crusaders a 10-7 advantage, but Perryville responded with a 4-1 spurt to tie the set at 11-all.

Saxony coach Julie Brandmeyer liked the way her players made adjustments heading into the second set.

"We made some adjustments at the net on our end, which I think helped our confidence," Brandmeyer said. "I think that confidence is key in volleyball, especially when you're trying to swing and be aggressive, so when we feel good and we're confident, I think we can do a great job with our offense. ... I think we carried a little momentum coming out of that first set into our second set, which helped us stay strong and stay with them."

Back-to-back aces from Maci Hotop gave the Pirates a 13-11 lead, but the Crusaders notched two points to tie the set at 13-all and again at 15-all. A kill from Franke drew Saxony within two points at 21-19, but Perryville used a 4-0 run to close the set and secure the victory.

Perryville's Kayla Buxton sets the ball to a teammate in the second set against Saxony Lutheran Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015 at Saxony Lutheran High School. (Glenn Landberg)

"They came out and jumped out on top, but our girls just keep battling," Mirly said. "... It's a good thing we did that tonight because Saxony was kind of nipping at our heels."

Hoff added four digs while fellow senior captains Kayla Buxton and Brooke Hogard finished with 21 assists and two aces, respectively.

"We've got those three senior captains out there who have been in big games their whole lives, and those three sophomores on the court are really starting to step up right now," Mirly said. "We're winning close games down the stretch. We work on it in practice, and they're doing a good job and getting the hang of it."

Allie Sprink, a sophomore native of Perryville, had a team-high five kills for the Crusaders while Jordan Hecht and Claire Petzoldt each contributed three kills.

"We're very diversified," Brandmeyer said about her team's offense. "We don't really have anyone who's getting 10, 11 kills a night. ... We have a really spread-out offense, which I think is a strength for us."

Saxony has also had to endure the season without one of its senior captains in Raegan Wieser, who tore her ACL just before the start of the season.

Brandmeyer said she talked to her players after the match about improving their defensive scheme.

"Perryville's a great program. We're getting there," Brandmeyer said. "We're going to keep working and make sure that we gain as much confidence as we can coming into the postseason."

With the playoffs less than three months away, Mirly also said he wants to see more from his team defensively.

"We overpassed a lot of balls tonight that shouldn't have been overpassed. Other than that, we kept a lot of balls alive. We made some pretty good passes here and there. It's just something we've got to keep getting better at," Mirly said. "... We've played at a high level for the most part, so it's exciting what we can do. And we're still getting better. We're still a young team, so we've still got a lot of room for improvement.

"We're a long way from peaking yet, so that's a good thing."