Former Southeast Whitfield star shows promise with Roadrunners

Published 11:13 pm Saturday, August 23, 2014

As Dalton State College’s volleyball team held a slim 18-15 first-set lead Saturday against Milligan College, an errant pass by the Roadrunners sent the ball sailing out of bounds and hitter Wendy Perez racing to stop it.

She stretched one arm out and made a dramatic save, with her wrist making just enough contact to send the ball the other direction, where teammate Savannah Nelson was perfectly positioned to direct the ball safely to Milligan’s side of the net.

Perez may be a freshman joining this experienced and well-meshed Dalton State team, but the Dalton native already is showing she has the talent to be a dependable collegiate player.

A 2014 graduate of Southeast Whitfield High School, Perez was part of the team’s rotation the first two sets in Saturday’s four-set win against Milligan College, the Roadrunners’ second opponent and second victim in their season-opening tri-match at Bandy Gymnasium. Perez is one of three new additions to a roster that returns 11 players from last season, the team’s first.

Perez admitted she was timid about joining a roster with one year of chemistry together. She joins junior Katie Curtin, a 2011 Dalton High School graduate, as the only local players on the roster.

“They pretty much know each other,” Perez said, “so they feel better with one another than I do with them. It’ll come together.”

Perez joins fellow freshman Anna Metzler — who like seniors Alyne Bianchi and Clarissa Weber and coach Bruna Langner are from Brazil — and junior Kianna Delaney as the new Dalton State players. All three are hitters, with Perez and Metzler on the outside and Delaney in the middle.

“I’m lucky to say I found (Perez),” Dalton State coach Bruna Langner said. “I found out about her through one of my players. She’s definitely one of my go-to hitters.”

Perez finished Dalton State’s 25-22, 25-18, 25-21 win against Chattanooga’s Tennessee Temple with one kill and half a block. She ended the Roadrunners’ 25-20, 23-25, 25-13, 25-19 win against Tennessee’s Milligan without a kill but the aforementioned save, which later resulted in an unforced error by Milligan and a point for Dalton State.

Having not played the sport until her sophomore year of high school, Perez is still fairly new to the game compared to her teammates. She made The Daily Citizen’s 2013 All-Area Volleyball Team her senior season, when Southeast reached the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs one season after she was part of a run to the Class 4A semifinals team.

“It’s a different level,” Perez said of college volleyball. “Everything is a lot quicker compared to high school.”

Without question, Perez considers “speed” the biggest difference.

Langner, though, still wants more of it from her new kill producer.

“She’s a little timid about hitting the ball hard,” Langner said. “I want her to hit it hard, because she can. That’s something we’re working on with her.”