Perkins falls to Lake in Div. IV district final

OLD FORT — For the fifth time in three years, Perkins faced off with Toledo-area power Lake. For the fifth time in a row, the Pirates just didn't have enough. Just an inch or two off the pace Thursday, Perkins came up short as the Flyers won 25-18, 25-23, 25-19 in a Division IV district final at Old Fort High School. "They have nine seniors and a lot of experience on that roster," said Pirates coach Brandon Duvall of Lake. "I push and I know I frustrate some of the girls being tough in the gym, but we talk about accountability all the time. There's something about winning. "When you know how to win and you're accustomed to winning, you find a way to win. Lake is very well-coached and very clean in their play." The Pirates finish the season with a record of 19-5, co-champions of the Northern Ohio Conference Lake Division. Perkins opened the season with a 25-21, 25-23, 25-21 loss to the Flyers, but won its next 14 matches. A three-match losing streak to Fremont Ross, Norwalk and Huron followed. Since then, the Pirates had won five matches in a row before the setback Thursday. "I'm glad we went through that little run where we lost three in a row because we would not be prepared to go into a situation like this," Duvall said. "I'm not going to say a lot of our wins early were easy, but we were winning in three sets. "We were doing a good job, but I think at some point you want to be challenged. You want some adversity and you can only create so much of that in the practice gym." Perkins had a chance to take the second set, but Lake (23-2) was just a little bit better. The Pirates led 3-1 and won five points in a row to go up 12-9. The teams went back and forth until the Flyers surged ahead 21-18 on a kill from Lucy Boos. Perkins rallied, tying the set at 21 on an ace from Viera Walker. After Lake won the next two points, the Pirates evened the set at 23. But, a serving error and hitting error from Perkins gave Lake the 2-0 lead. "It was the timeliness on the errors," Duvall said. "The tough part about it is that it was a team collective effort. It wasn't like we had one person that was falling apart. We'd have one person hit it in the net and the next person shank it and the next person served into the net. "We would side out immediately and that was the part I was most proud of. We were able to respond very quickly." Perkins never led in sets 1 or 3. In the opener, Lake jumped out to a 11-6 lead, forcing a timeout from Duvall. Perkins got within three points on six separate occasions before drawing within 19-17 on a kill from Bria Hector. That seemed to fire up Lake as the Flyers closed the set on a 6-1 run. Two kills from Mylah Vorst and one from Kennedy Falkenberg was followed by a double-hit call on Perkins. That put Lake up 1-0. In the third set, Perkins was slow out of the gate. The Pirates tied the set at 6 on a Walker kill, but Lake won points in bunches and seized a 17-10 advantage after two kills from Vorst. Perkins kept fighting and got within 22-18 after a pair of Flyers errors, but no closer. Vorst and Falkenberg put down kills to end Perkins' run and season. It was the Pirates' first district championship match appearance since 2021. "I know my team well enough to see where frustration is taking over," Duvall said. "We had no business being frustrated in a game like this. We're icing on the cake right now. We've gone further than we have in a very long time. "Do I want to win? Yes. Do I want to say we beat a team like Lake? Yes. We unfortunately have some things to learn." Walker finished with 17 kills while Addi Mason recorded 12 kills and nine digs for Perkins. Braelyn Davie tallied 40 assists, Avisi Gehlor nabbed 12 digs and Hector lined six kills. The Pirates do not have a senior on their roster. "I don't like the way we executed a few things, but that's some things we can clean up going into next year," Duvall said. "We have everybody coming back. "Almost everybody on our roster plays club volleyball, so they'll continue to polish, get experience and get tough. They'll be wiser in their decision making."