PENACOOK – While it wasn’t the result they wanted, the Merrimack Valley High School high school volleyball players still made history on Friday night.

Playing in the program’s first ever home varsity match, the Pride (0-2) showed unmistakable signs of a team that is still learning and developing, but also showed moments of promise and skill in a 25-10, 25-14, 25-9 loss to the Kingswood Knights (2-0).

MV achieved the distinction of winning the first point on its home floor when junior Mackenzie Shelby (four digs, three assists) aced the first serve of the match, but the Knights went on a 6-0 run after that. Kingswood also had a 6-0 run in the middle of the set and a 4-0 run to close it for an early lead.

“Overall I think they were a little overwhelmed with the newness, first varsity experience at home, we didn’t play our best,” MV head coach Tom Clark said. “We can be better and they know that. We’re a better team than what we showed tonight.”

In the excitement and nerves of playing on their home floor for the first time, overeager shots went out of bounds, too many teammates, or no teammates, called for the ball, and there were some hitting errors near the net. 

Kingswood took a 7-1 lead to open the second set, but the Pride started to clean things up, closing the gap to 13-10 before the Knights pulled away again. Even in points that didn’t go MV’s way, volleys became longer, communication and movement on the floor became a little smoother, and errors were slightly less frequent.

Senior Caydence Allberg (two kills, five digs, ace), junior Rhianna Cruz (ace, block), and sophomores Aubrey Austin (four digs, kill, block) and Avery Snarey (kill, block) played especially well in the second set.

With a two set lead and a victory near at hand, Kingswood made quick work of the third set to close out the match.

But despite their inexperience, the Pride showed that they belong, and compete, on the varsity floor in their first two matches. MV opened the season at John Stark earlier in the week, losing some close sets in a 25-21, 26-24, 25-10 defeat.

“We didn’t work overly hard like we did the other night (at John Stark),” Clark said. “We’re a team that typically is going to be scrappy and show determination. We got away from that at times, but we know we can do better with that.”

It’s also worth noting that both John Stark and Kingswood were both playoff teams in Division II last season and have much more volleyball experience than the Pride.

Only one player on MV’s roster, sophomore libero Taliyah Chudoba (who led the team with six digs), had played volleyball outside of the Pride’s program prior to joining the team.

“She’s a rock star. We rely on her a lot,” Clark said. “Smart teams are not going to play the ball to her too much.”

There’s also signs that given time, more MV players can rise to that level. Clark highlighted the play of junior Katelyn Herrmann (kill, block), who has only been playing volleyball for four weeks.

“She’s been on JV and we threw her in mid-second set,” Clark said. “For a kid who is brand new to it, she did a great job showing up. From having no varsity experience, and very little volleyball experience, she went out there and looked like she belonged there.”

Clark added, “(Friday night) was a downward spiral at times. There was the hype of everything throughout the week. This was our first big dance and we brought two left to the dance, but I’m still excited about what we can do.”

The Pride will next play at Manchester Memorial on Wednesday.