On Monday, the Lady Cards volleyball team rushed out onto the court after coming out victorious over the Perry Meridian High School Falcons.

It was a textbook win: beating the school rival, celebrating with the team and singing the fight song to the student section.

The Lady Cards haven’t beaten Perry in the last 13 years, so this was huge for the team.

Head coach Chelsea Hoffman says one of the best things that went well that night was staying up and keeping their heads held high after anything went south.

“When I had certain players not playing well, I had other players step up in that moment,” Hoffman said.

Junior Arianna Neese felt like she kept her composure during the game, and didn’t let anything affect how she was playing. Her efforts led to be a leader on the court with 17 digs and three aces in the game.

“I think what went well was my composure. I started hurting during the game, but I kept it together,” Neese said.

During the second set, the set went past 25 and ended 29 – 27, with Perry in the lead. 

Hoffman says that she tried to keep the team up after losing the set. 

“It was one – one, stay up, that was a good match, we were down the whole time … and to play that close at the end, I knew we could get that third set,” Hoffman said.

The final score of the match was 3 – 1, a win for Southport, which Neese greatly contributed to.

“They played with confidence tonight,” Hoffman said. “We really prepared for Perry. I knew the girls wanted it.”