The Perham Yellowjacket volleyball team wants balance across the front line, making it tough for the opponent to focus in on one hitter. The Yellowjackets achieved that balance against Bemidji in a 3-1 (18-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-23) victory on Sept. 24 at the Prairie Wind Middle School gymnasium.
"It was up and down, but we will take a win at this point of the season," Perham head coach Eryn Moser said. "We will take away what we need to learn upon and keep going."
The Yellowjackets had three players with double digit kills and five players with eight or more kills. Hannah Ekse led the way with 13 kills, while Gabby DeBoer finished with 11 and Olivia Strand added 10.
"One of the things that we are going to be counting on at the end of our season is that we have a wide assortment of guns," Moser said. "We want to use people at different spots and make sure they are ready to go by the end of the season, so whoever we need is ready to go."
Janie Wunderlich added nine kills, while Jenna Bjerke finished with eight, spreading out the attack. Serena Langen and Allie King made strong decisions passing the ball. The duo finished with 26 set assists each.
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The Yellowjackets struggled in game one, falling 25-18, and Moser said the talk with the team was to focus on doing their job, instead of worrying about coaching others.
"Sometimes we have a tendency to overthink things. We have to rely, sometimes, on our athletic ability to get us through games," Moser said.
The talk between games one and two worked as the Yellowjackets breezed to a 25-15 win in game two. They followed it with a 25-20 win in game three, before rallying back late, winning game four, 25-23, on a game ending kill by Abbey Zepper.
The Yellowjackets have now won eight straight games, improving their record to 12-4 overall on the season. They return home for a non-conference game with the Hawley Nuggets on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Perham def. Bemidji 3-1 (18-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-23)
PER: Serena Langen 26SA, 2AS, 3D; Gabby DeBoer 11K, 20D; Jenna Bjerke 8K; Olivia Strand 10K; Janie Wunderlich 9K; Hannah Ekse 13K, 1AS; Lisa Meader 11D; Abbey Zepper 3K, 4D; Allie King 26SA, 1AS, 6D; Leah Muer 3AS, 11D.
