DEXTER -- When Krysten Garrison tore her ACL at the beginning of the summer, everyone was appropriately upset.
The two-time team leader in kills was going to miss her senior season. Dexter coach Carmen Morgan threw away the now tainted team gear from the first match of the summer. At Dexter's fall media day, Garrison, her leg wrapped in bandages after recently having surgery, couldn't talk about missing her senior season without crying.
She mentioned to Morgan that she knew of a coach who let a girl serve at the end of the season. Morgan said, "All right, we'll see if you're ready."
On senior night Thursday, Blair Rogers hit a kill down the middle to give Dexter the serve and put the Bearcats ahead 4-1 in the first set.
Garrison subbed in to serve as the student section started chanting for her. She stepped back behind the line, served, and Perryville couldn't handle the pass for a Dexter point. Garrison then subbed right back out as Dexter went on to beat Perryville 25-19, 25-17.
"It meant a lot, especially on senior night and my last night here. Just being on the court with the girls again, it was nice," Garrison said.
Added Morgan, "That was huge. I think the crowd loved it, we loved it. It was a little bit surreal for us."
All season Garrison has sat next to assistant coach Starla Pulley on the bench, effectively becoming a second assistant, shouting tips and advice to her teammates. In pre-game warmups, she's helped the coaches by tossing volleyball for players to hit. She's been listed on the team roster in every program.
Prior to the match, Garrison had been practicing serving from the floor. She'd always jump served, but that wasn't such a great idea with her knee some two months removed from surgery. She said she wasn't nervous about her only play of the season, but Morgan said Garrison was a little worried about having to perform something other than a jump serve.
The final match on their home court was also emotional for the rest of Dexter's seven seniors.
"It's pretty emotional. The season's not over yet but playing the last game as a senior, it's pretty hard. I love volleyball and I'm going to miss it a lot," Dexter senior libero Megan Trout said. "We're a family. We're all each other's best friends and the fact that this is the last time we'll all play together (on our home court). Some of us have been playing together since fourth grade."
Dexter never trailed in the first set. The Bearcats led 18-14 and doubled their lead with four straight points. Perryville answered with four points of its own and Rogers got the serve back for Dexter with a kill. Hannah Thurmon soon put down one of her team-leading 11 kills for set point.
The Pirates led 13-10 in the second set when Dexter rallied for six straight points.
Addie Kruse, who finished with three kills and an ace, kicked off the run with a kill and Thurmon followed with a stuff and a kill.
Perryville got called for a pair of errors and Thurmon drilled another overpass. The Pirates pulled within a point, but Dexter closed the match with a seven point run that included two kills from Maycie Martin, a block by Alexa Werneck and an ace by Thurmon.
"Had a few little bobbles but better than Monday," said Morgan, referencing Dexter's underwhelming three-set win over Notre Dame. "There's a few things we talked about just awhile ago, there's a few things we want to clean up, but I think we are going to be ready (for districts)."
Bailee Williams finished with 25 assists and six digs for Dexter, leading the team in both categories.
Martin had six kills and Rogers had five.
With the win, Dexter has swept the regular season against both Notre Dame and Perryville, its two biggest threats in the district tournament.
The top-seeded Bearcats get a bye and face the winner of Kennett and Fredericktown in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Kennett. The championship match follows at 8 p.m.
"Going into districts, I feel pretty confident. We've played Notre Dame and Perryville now twice this season," Trout said. "We know that we can beat them if we play up to our potential and play our game, but if we let down and don't play our game, it gets pretty rocky."