Picayune’s volleyball lost to West Harrison on Tuesday, the second time Picayune Memorial High School’s volleyball team has faced off against West Harrison. The Maroon Tide ended up losing the game in three sets. In volleyball the first team to 25 points wins the set and the first to win two of three sets is the winner of the match.

However, the team must win by 2 points, meaning that if the game is close enough sometimes more than 25 points are needed for a victory. That was the case in the back and forth game between the two squads with not one, but two sets requiring extra points to declare a winner.

The first set ended with a score of 27-25, while the second set ended with a score of 30-28.

Head Coach Courtney Dickens said that West Harrison’s serving was on point, and that made it hard for her athletes to pass the ball well.  This in turn would affect setters Makenna Williams and Jolene Beck from setting the ball properly.

“When your passes are off, it makes setters get out of their comfort zone,” Dickens said. “We weren’t able to get our hitters any good sets last night.”

Not being able to provide those opportunities denies playmakers like Kyra Hathorne from being able to spike the ball.

From a defensive aspect Dickens said her blockers had some issues staying off the net.

Blockers aren’t allowed to have their hands break the plane above the net, which means they have to go in with their hands straight up. Aliciana Carter and Kyla Harris have been filling the blocking roles for the Maroon Tide, and Dickens said that against West Harrison her players had a hard time getting to the right spot at the right time.

“You have to read where the ball is going and read who is being set,” Dickens said.

“Then they know which side of the net they have to be on. When you get there late you might jump into the net.”

However, her net players such as Harris and Carter were able to sometimes just tap the ball over the net.

“Since we weren’t able to hit the ball we were tapping it over and finding the holes,” Dickens said.

Overall, Dickens was fine with the team’s performance, and said that it felt as though the team was able to get just one of those first three sets they would’ve been able to win the match.

Winning is an expectation for the squad now that it’s the program’s second year, and the athletes have been learning how to adjust.

“We’ve had some times this year where they handled pressure really well, and then there’s been times where the pressure got to us like last night,” Dickens said.

“I wish we would get more consistent when it comes to handling pressure.”

The team is heading into a period of practice sessions before they play Pass Christian on Sept. 3, a game Dickens said she’s expecting to win.

The game will start at 6:30.