Perkins sweeps Tiffin, shares NOC Lake title

PERKINS TWP. — Perkins went a bit old school Thursday. Old school meaning just a few weeks ago. After three straight losses and a nail-biting win over Clyde on Tuesday, the Pirates flexed their muscles in the first two sets against Tiffin Columbian. Perkins grinded out the third set and defeated the Tornadoes 25-15, 25-13, 26-24, clinching a share of the Northern Ohio Conference Lake Division championship. The Pirates (16-4, 7-1 NOC Lake) split the league title with Norwalk (16-6, 7-1), each winning on the other's home floor. The league championship is just the third in program history, joining the 1985 and 2020 squads. "This is a tough job," Perkins coach Brandon Duvall said. "Even coaching college for a long time, you deal with a kid that you've recruited. Here, these are the girls that have been committed to the volleyball program since they were in fourth grade. They've been wearing Perkins on their shirt for a long time. "It's not like I have to tell them about our history. They're part of that history as they've gone through the ranks." It was far from easy for the Pirates in the third set. Things seemed comfortable when Viera Walker blasted one of her match-high 16 kills to give Perkins a 15-9 lead. But, the Tornadoes (9-13, 3-5) were more than scrappy. Columbian won points in bunches, going up 18-17 on an ace from Lexi Beaston and block from Caroline Lewis. The Pirates steadied the ship, pushing ahead 20-18 following a kill from Reese Schaefer and ace from Olivia Badamy. The Tornadoes tied the set at 20, 21, 23 and 24 before Perkins finished strong. Walker put down her final kill of the night before freshman Bria Hector and Badamy combined on a block to clinch the significant win for the Pirates. "There's not a lead I'm ever comfortable with — never in my lifetime," Duvall said. "I've seen big leads get lost. You just can't get comfortable. The game never wins itself. I thought we were playing very well the first two sets, even though we were making some errors here and there. The game is full of errors, so you can't get too worried about that." Things were smooth early for Perkins. The Pirates used a 7-1 run, capped on an ace from Schaefer, to go up 13-7 in Set 1. Ahead 19-15, the Pirates sprinted off the final six points of the set. Addi Mason registered three kills in the run, including the closer as Perkins went up 1-0. The Pirates carried that momentum into Set 2, racing out to a 10-2 run. Avisi Gehlot had consecutive aces in the run while Walker bludgeoned a pair of kills. Three straight points made it 13-3. The Pirates got back-to-back-to-back aces from Schaefer to go up 2-0. "This league in general, you don't know what you're going to get," Duvall said. "Everyone has improved a ton. We've already played each other once. Everyone is watching each other's film to see tendencies. They have some stellar players. I think their setter (Avary Brown) is great. (Beaston) is great." Despite consecutive losses to Fremont Ross, Norwalk and Huron, Perkins knew it entered the week two wins from at least a share of the league title. The Pirates had to dig deep against Clyde before taking care of business against Columbian, a team it swept 3-0 on Sept. 24 in Tiffin. "I know how good we are. I think the girls do, too," Duvall said. "Good teams fail all the time. But, how do we get them to mentally understand that you have to keep pushing. We're tired. Sickness is going around. You've got all the steady stuff like school and having a social life. "How do you keep focused when we've been in the gym since mid-May and now it's mid-October? After losing three matches, it's easy to lose that mentally. But I'm proud after Clyde on Tuesday and tonight. I think it shows we've rebounded past those losses." Braelyn Davie tallied 39 assists, 10 digs and three kills for Perkins while Schaefer finished with 10 kills and four aces. Gehlot led the Pirates defensively with 19 digs, Mason added 15 digs and nine kills and Walker contributed 11 digs. Perkins hosts Ontario (5-16) on Saturday in its final regular-season match. The Pirates open the postseason at home next Thursday against Galion. "The girls can take a deep breath," Duvall said. "Now it's about how do we want to present ourselves throughout this tournament. Saturday is the start of it to me. Even though it's still regular season, Saturday is the start of us getting ready for the tournament. "How do we want to play? When we walk in the gym, what do we want to be known for? I think Saturday we really need to come out and portray that."