Perkins uses simple formula for bounceback win

PERKINS TWP. — Perkins found a formula that worked. Why change? The Pirates (6-4, 5-1 SBC Lake) relied on high-volume swinging from the left side of their attack, and that worked to come back and beat Margaretta (8-5, 2-1 SBC Bay) in four sets on Saturday, 16-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-10. "It's always nice to win," Perkins coach Heath Hamilton said. "It's always nice to beat Margaretta. They're a good team." The two players getting the bulk of the swings were Emma Manley and Mia Downing. Manley totaled 21 kills, and Downing had 13. Senior setter Rylie Satterfield totaled 31 assists, most of them to that duo. "I'm really enjoying the challenge," Satterfield said of her first year as Perkins' full-time setter. "I'm finally getting a part in those kills, so I get to experience the thrill of that. It's really exciting." Cameron Kaufman had a Perkins-best 22 digs, and Manley had 21. Gabby Zokle led a strong Pirates defensive effort at the net with six total blocks. "(Zokle's) not there, and then she's just there," Satterfield said. "It's crazy." Both teams entered Saturday's matchup looking to bounce back from losses to their respective league leaders Thursday, Perkins falling to Vermilion in four and Margaretta swept by Huron. The Polar Bears started stronger. Kylie Leibacher and Olivia Saylor each had four kills in the first set, Kenadie Saylor had three more and the Saylor sisters combined for three additional block points. "They were playing together," Margaretta coach Sarah Kuns said of the first set. "They played as a team, knew what they had to do, executed what they needed to do. They wanted it." Perkins, which began the season 0-3 and then won five in a row before falling to the Sailors, found a way to right the ship. "We weren't covering," Satterfield said. "We weren't talking. Once we got that stuff together, we got back into the groove." Downing took over the middle of set two. In one stretch of seven Perkins points, Downing had four kills and two aces. "She got it going," Hamilton said. "I know she's got a super aggressive serve when she's not missing." Then it was Manley helping to close out the second set with six kills total in the frame. Almost all of Manley's kills came with the southpaw flying to the left side of the net and aiming short crosscourt for an open spot in the Margaretta defense. "They made our defense look pretty weak," Kuns said. "They went for the same exact hole. (Manley) knew what she was doing, and she did it well." Manley had the final point of the set with a kill for 25-18 and a tied up match. The senior Manley and junior Downing came out firing again in the third to jump out to a 13-6 advantage with three kills apiece in the run. "They were really on," Satterfield said. "It was very important for them to be on and get those kills." Margaretta answered with a serving run from Leibacher that included four aces to tie it 13-13, then the Polar Bears got up 16-14 before Perkins took control again. It started with a Downing kill, then included a Satterfield ace and three kills and an ace from Manley before a mis-hit won the third set for Perkins. The fourth was all Pirates. Manley started it with a kill before freshman Ferrell Coleman had a kill and a block. Manley had multiple points in the fourth set where she got either three or four swings in the same point. The Pirates kept going to what was working. "I warned (Manley) when summer started that she better be in the best shape of her life," Hamilton said. "Once in a while during a long point, she might get five or six swings. I looked at her and she looks a little tired, but she fights through it. She's a good kid. She's a worker. Love to have her." Manley's final kill was her 21st for the 21st Pirates point in the fourth set. After three Margaretta miscues, Aubrey Yost subbed into the match for the first time all day and served an ace to end it. It's just the result Perkins needed heading into a three-game week — at Fremont Ross on Monday, at Oak Harbor on Tuesday and hosting Sandusky on Thursday. "It felt very good," Satterfield said. "We know (the loss) was just a one-time thing and we can get back into it."