“A battle to the end.”
So described Perry volleyball Head Coach Terri Hunt of the Lady Panthers’ GHSA Class AAAA state volleyball tournament win over Eastside Thursday at home.
Evidence comes by way of the margin of victory: 3 games to 2. It also shows up on the scoreboard. Perry won the first set 25-20, but the Lady Eagles – the No. 3 team out of Area 4 despite finishing 7-1 in their region and boasting a 22-9 overall record heading into the playoffs – won the second and third. They took the second 25-19 and the third just 26-24.
Perry then won the fourth 25-11 and the deciding Game 5, 15-10.
“(It was a) great team effort,” Hunt said, this marking the second appearance in the Sweet 16 in her seven years of coaching at Perry. “My girls had no quit in them.”
She added: The Lady Panthers did everything that they were supposed to do to get it done on the court. I continue to be amazed at the resilience and amount of fight we have had late in the season.
“We stayed focused, kept our heads in the game and minimized errors.”
Helping to lead in that effort was Tay Ridley, who had 10 kills and Leah Spears, who had 16 as well as four blocks.
Lativa Ray had five blocks and Libero Carson Hills, Hunt said, “was flying all over the floor making incredible passes.
“Can’t say enough about the team effort tonight,” she said.
Next up for the Lady Panthers, in the Sweet 16, is Northside, Columbus, which beat Baldwin 3-0. That game is listed for Tuesday.
