PHS senior starters all earn scholarships

The Perryville High School Lady Pirates volleyball team's historical season has reached another milestone, months after the final match on the court. All 3 starting seniors have now signed letters of intent to play the sport at the collegiate level.

Shea Leible, daughter of Rod and Dawn Leible of Perryville, will play at Jefferson College for the Lady Vikings. Morgan Mueller will play for the John A. Logan Volunteers. She is the daughter of Rick and Kristi Mueller of Perryville. Marissa Erwin will play for Greenville College for the Panthers. She is the daughter of Damon and Robin Erwin of Perryville.

"It's a great honor for our program to have all 3 of our starting seniors earn scholarships to play at a college of their choice," said David Mirly, who has been the Lady Pirates' head coach for 5 years. "I'm so proud of each of them; they've worked incredibly hard to achieve their goals. And I'm so happy for their parents, who have had the financial burdens of sending a child to college lifted."

The Lady Pirates have had one of their most successful seasons in school history this year. They finished the season 29-4, went undefeated at home and were Conference and District champions. It's the first Conference championship for the team in 30 years. The girls also won the Notre Dame Tournament.

Post-season awards piled up for the Lady Pirates with Mueller, Leible, Erwin and Natalie Gremaud all earned spots on the All-District team. Mueller, Leible, Erwin, Gremaud and Kristen Triller made the All-Conference teams. The KTJJ Regional Radio Dream Team included Gremaud and Leible. The BA Sports All-Star Extravaganza, which honors the top 24 players in Southeast Missouri selected Mueller, Leible and Erwin for the volleyball team and Mirly was named an honorary coach.

When the All-State team was announced, Erwin earned an honorable mention, Leible made the second team and Gremaud landed on the first team.

All of the championships and awards are wonderful, Mirly said, but he measures his team's true success by what happens after high school volleyball.

"After our district championship game, I was surrounded by fans and a college recruiter handed me her card. I asked, 'Who are you interested in?' and she said, 'All of them. I want to sign all your players.' It was a very neat moment for me because I realized colleges were taking note of our program.

"Free college. It's what every athlete has in the back of their minds, and we're delivering it here at PHS."

'All about the team'

Mirly said that Perryville's volleyball team has always had talent and good athletes. The difference in recent years is that every athlete, coach and parent has become focused on one common goal: for the team to play at the very highest level of the sport.

"When I took over as head coach 5 years ago, I had a vision of where I wanted this team to go," Mirly said. "They had the talent, they had the athleticism. It was all about positive attitude and team unity. Once we had that attitude set, we were able to start focusing during every practice so that we could play at a very intense level.

"Once this team starting experiencing successes, those lessons were cemented. These athletes know how to act, how to practice and how to play to win big games."

Consistency is another key component of the Lady Pirates' success.

"Perryville's USA-V volleyball program is top-notch," Mirly said. "One of the reasons why Perryville volleyball is so successful is because the girls start playing at 11 years old. They get great coaching, learn the skills they need to be successful, so by the time they come to high school we can make that leap to the next level; we don't have to work on basic skills.

"USA-V is all volunteer coaches. Sometimes it's parents, or ex-players or people who just love volleyball and coaching and want to share the sport with young people. It's a great program and building-block."

Mirly also hosts volleyball camps every year for girls in Grades 2-7 to teach basic skills. He's been here long enough now to see some of those young campers become this year's stars. "Shea, Mariss and Morgan all came to my camp in 8th grade," he said. "I've had the opportunity to coach them over several years."

Mirly's assistant coach is Dani (Emmendorfer) Yamnitz, who was a stand-out high school athlete at St. Vincent. "Dani is a phenomenal coach," he said. "She has been great blessing because she complements my style of coaching very well. I am much more intense and she is more laid back and can lighten the mood." Sierra Paulus, another noted volleyball player from St. Vincent High School, will join the coaching staff next season. "We are very excited about Coach Paulus joining our staff and look for her to contribute to our success."

The loss of three strong seniors will leave holes on the court for others to fill, Mirly said, but adds that he is confident his younger players are up to the challenge. "In the last 3 years our JV teams have gone 17-3, 17-3 and 21-0," he said. "The incoming varsity players are very talented, but inexperienced at the varsity level. We'll play about 40 games this summer, which will give them that experience they lack.

"We're going to focus on that, focus on staying positive and lifting each other up, and we're going to see these young ladies excel."

Mirly said that talented athletes and consistent coaching get some extra help, too. "We have wonderful fans for Lady Pirate volleyball," he said. "Parents, grandparents, students and community members have supported us, which is a great motivator. We're so appreciative of that."

The Lady Pirates aren't resting on their laurels. They've got a busy summer planned. "We'll travel to tournaments including Branson and then we're hosting our annual summer tournament, which will see at least 45 teams play in 2 days. We use every gym in town, and we match teams up competitively. It's a great event. It gives us lots of practice and a peek at next year's competition. We'd love for the community to come out and watch the matches."

For more information about Lady Pirates Volleyball, youth volleyball camps and the Subway Shootout Perryville Summer Tournament, log onto www.perryvillevolleyball.com. For more information about District 32 Athletics, visit www.perryville.k12.mo.us.