High school volleyball: Delphos Jefferson defeats Perry

PERRY TOWNSHIP — First-year Delphos Jefferson coach Lindsay Kerby admitted it wasn’t her team’s best work, but the Wildcats pulled out a four-set win over Perry on Tuesday night at Leonard V. Volbert Gymnasium.

“We had a little bit of a rough start. Sometimes we like to play worse than what we are,” Kerby said. “Yesterday we came off a good win (against Bath) and I think we got the jitters again but we got back to being ourselves by the end.”

The match started close and ended close, but in the middle, it was anything but that.

Delphos Jefferson (2-0) came out on top in a competitive first set 25-17, then dominated Perry (1-3) in the second set 25-10 to take a 2-0 lead. The Commodores nabbed a 25-12 win in the third set but the Wildcats regained their form in the fourth, ending things with a 25-17 win.

Delphos Jefferson’s dominant second set was the product of aggressive play at the net, namely from two 5-11 hitters, Lela Grogg and Caitlyn Wagoner, along with a strong sequence from 5-7 middle hitter Valentina Miller.

Wagoner led the Wildcats to an 11-4 lead with a kill and a block on back-to-back points. Miller smashed a kill to make it 14-6, then aced two straight serves to put Delphos Jefferson up 10.

“When we’re aggressive and our hitters hit the ball instead of tipping, I think we’re at our best,” Kerby said. “Once we get some kills in there, we get excited and we learn how to come back in sets.”

Makenna Dray, Malieah Hutchins and Emma Lehman fueled Perry’s run in its third-set victory.

Lehman had one of her three blocks on the night early in the set to put the Commodores up 4-1. Hutchins had two straight aces to make it 12-6. Dray added an ace to bring the deficit to 10 at 21-11.

Lehman also ended the set with a kill. It was one of seven for her on the evening. Dray went perfect from the serving line with two aces and Justice Allison added six kills and four aces.

Perry concludes the week with a road game against Kenton on Wednesday.

Delphos Jefferson is in the midst of a four-game stretch this week with two more to come against Kalida on Wednesday and Cory-Rawson on Saturday. Although it’s early in the season, Kerby believes her team is starting to settle in.

“It’s kind of nerve-racking as a first-year head coach,” she said. “I think we’ve all been nervous but with our first two wins out of the way I think we’re starting to build a good momentum.”