Kosciusko volleyball era opened with a preseason scrimmage against Noxapater last Thursday. The Lady Whippets dropped three games in the best-of-five match by scores of 25-8, 25-16 and 25-18.
Despite the final result, Kosciusko volleyball coach Lauren Peresich applauded her team’s effort in its first official match, and she welcomed the opportunity to play a live opponent.
“My main goal with the scrimmage was to get every girl a chance to play and get the nerves out so that we won’t have as many in our first game,” Peresich said.
Multiple players received playing time during the Monday contest with the hopes of putting what they have learned in offseason practice to use in-game scenarios. Now that Peresich has accomplished that, she will have a better idea of whom to deploy when the season opens this week.
“The first game, I’m going to be playing the people I can play who will get me the win,” she said. “I feel like all the girls have been working really hard, and I feel having that scrimmage definitely got the nerves out.”
Kosciusko hosts Noxapater on Thursday for its season opener. The Lady Whippets’ junior varsity squad will take the court at 5 p.m., with the varsity to follow.
Players’ grasp of the game left a positive impression on Peresich, as did their progression throughout the match. The team grew more comfortable with each contest.
“Every game, they improved on the mistakes they made in the first one,” Peresich said.
The Lady Whippets struggled with serving and receiving during the scrimmage, which Peresich said she has worked to remedy in practices. She has received a good response from her team.
“Our biggest mistake this past game was our serve (and) receive,” she said. “We were just having a hard time passing the ball up to get a good set. But we’ve been working on that all week so hopefully, the drills and stuff we’ve been doing in practice will assist us with that situation.”
With a full scrimmage now behind them, the Lady Whippets have shifted their focus to their season opener. Peresich said the live simulation, followed by productive practices, should ensure a positive season opener on Thursday.
“A lot of them have never played volleyball before, so having that scrimmage let them understand the rules they might not have known, and it also helped them a lot with teamwork,” she said. “Just from the time we had our scrimmage until our practice on Friday, I’ve seen tremendous teamwork among them.”
