This past Thursday, the Peal River Central Lady Blue Devils lost in three sets to the Hancock Hawks (4-3). The Lady Blue Devils are 0-2 on the season, but where some may see a losing record, Head Coach Nicole Brown sees progress and improvement.

 

Scoring in the sets went as follows, 25-8, 25-13 and 25-10.

 

“The girls held their own against a well established team, I couldn’t be more proud of their hard work and competitiveness,” said Brown.

 

The best set was the second, and during set three the Lady Blue Devils were composed and confident. Brown said her front row players blocked well and Autumn Craft did great at adjusting to playing against a new skill set.

 

“They really played off their knowledge of the team and worked well to compensate. The third set did not show on the scoreboard but it was obvious they were able to anticipate Hancock’s moves and worked the court well,” said Brown.

 

Another nod to the Lady Blue Devils was the team’s quick game-to-game adjustments. Brown said they worked on strategies learned after playing Purvis, and were able to implement them successfully and in multiple times during their match against Hancock.

 

Another thing, the team is still adjusting to is playing in front of a crowd. The Lady Blue Devils are opening their season with three away games in very hostile environments that shook the Lady Blue Devils, leading to their first loss against Purvis. The second match was different and Brown saw drastic improvements in her team’s performance.

 

“This can be intimidating to our players that have never played a sport. I feel like it was extremely obvious that they were starting to avoid listening to the outside noise and focused on the goal to improve,” said Brown.

 

Moving forward as the Lady Blue Devils travel to play the Harrison Central Red Rebels (1-0), Brown wants the team’s growth to continue while believing the wins will come.

“I would like to see them continue to feel confident in their ability and work to improve the placement of the ball in both serving and receiving, they are more than capable of making the minor changes that are needed to continue to improve and compete on the high school level,” she said.

 

The matchup against the Lady Blue Devils and the Red Rebels will be Monday, Aug. 15 at 6:30. Then PRC will play at home at the Pearl River Central Elementary School gym for the first time this season the following Tuesday, Aug. 16 against the Lumberton Panthers at 6:30.