Plymouth Spoils Triton's Season
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
PLYMOUTH - Losing in the sectional was not part of the script.
Not with a veteran team with six seniors.
Not after a 24-6 regular season.
It just happened to be Plymouth's script, and it is one that has been used the last 14 years.
Plymouth, a team that did not have anywhere close to six seniors or 24 wins, upended Triton 11-15, 15-7, 15-12 in Saturday's volleyball championship. It is the 14th straight year Plymouth won its sectional.
Plymouth had 10 sophomores and juniors on a roster of 12 and was a below-.500 team in the regular season at 15-16. Of Plymouth's six starters, four were sophomores.
What the Pilgrims had going for them was a brutal regular season schedule that toughened them for tournament time.
"There was a time when we played 10 games, and seven of those 10 games were against top 15 teams," Plymouth coach Lana Singleton said. "The NLC is good competition, but we play much tougher teams than some of the teams in the NLC."
Triton won the first game with good serving at the end by senior Megan Sarber. With the game tied 11-11, Sarber served the rest of the way for the 15-11 win. Her two aces and kills by juniors Jennifer Weissert and Jessica Kintzel gave Triton the last four points.
But then Plymouth discovered a Triton weakness.
The Pilgrims found a hole in the middle of the Triton defense, right between the Trojan front and back lines. They they hammered the ball to that spot every time they could.
It worked. The ball fell in repeatedly. The Triton defense couldn't return, much less get a hand on, Plymouth's shots.
Plymouth jumped ahead 10-1 in the second game and 8-2 in the third game.
Singleton credited one of her juniors for giving Plymouth the winning game plan.
"Libby Myers saw the hole in the middle," Singleton said. "She deserves a lot of the credit. She kept on hitting the ball hard and got I don't know how many kills. She was instrumental in our offense hitting that hole."
Triton coach Gayle Perry knew what was happening, but her team couldn't get the problem corrected in time.
"They really started attacking out of the middle, and we had a hard time," she said. "We were touching the ball, but we weren't blocking it. We didn't keep our hands in front of us to actually get the point block. We were satisfied just to touch the ball.
"We kind of lost our hitting for a while, and we're not a real good tip team."
The deficits in the last two games were simply too big for Triton to overcome on Plymouth's home floor.
"I thought we were very competitive," Perry said. "We just kept letting them get too big of a lead and having to fight back.
"Maybe if we would have got on track early in the game. But we just couldn't seem to do that."
Just as tough, Perry said, is coming in here knowing about Plymouth's success, knowing about the 16-year winning streak. That makes it a huge mental battle, she said.
"That is tough," she said. "They have great history. I think attitude has a lot to do with it. We came in, and all day we played tentative. I'm not sure quite how to get over that edge."
Triton got to the championship by beating Argos (14-10) 15-10, 15-12 Saturday morning. The Trojans had strong finishes in both games. Senior Holly Hepler had five straight service points as Triton went from a 10-10 tie to the 15-10 win. Senior Audra Meinert, Weissert and Hepler all delivered kills.
Argos jumped in front 12-6 the second game, but two kills by Sarber and two by Weissert helped give Triton the 13-12 lead. Junior Heather Barron served five straight points that put Triton in the lead for good.
Plymouth advanced to the championship by beating LaVille Thursday and John Glenn Saturday afternoon. The Pilgrims meet Culver in Saturday's Valparaiso Regional.
Afterward, several Triton fans hugged Perry, who fought back the tears. She called Plymouth the favorite to win earlier in the week. Still, Perry had to like Triton's chances, with this year's team being the best in school history. If there was ever a year somebody could knock Plymouth off, this seemed to be it, especially with this veteran Triton squad.
Perry realized that.
"I don't have any regrets, except that I lose my six seniors," she said.
In addition to Hepler and Meinert, Teri Hackett, Amy Peterson, Diane Hatch and Patricia Yarian also graduate.
Triton finished the season 25-7. The Trojans smashed the previous school record for wins, 19.
"I'm very proud of their effort," Perry said. "These kids did a lot of great things for Triton. We had our best season record, we tied John Glenn for the conference for the first time.
"They played hard. All I asked of them was to be competitive. If we were, we could go on and celebrate our season. We'll still do that." [[In-content Ad]]
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PLYMOUTH - Losing in the sectional was not part of the script.
Not with a veteran team with six seniors.
Not after a 24-6 regular season.
It just happened to be Plymouth's script, and it is one that has been used the last 14 years.
Plymouth, a team that did not have anywhere close to six seniors or 24 wins, upended Triton 11-15, 15-7, 15-12 in Saturday's volleyball championship. It is the 14th straight year Plymouth won its sectional.
Plymouth had 10 sophomores and juniors on a roster of 12 and was a below-.500 team in the regular season at 15-16. Of Plymouth's six starters, four were sophomores.
What the Pilgrims had going for them was a brutal regular season schedule that toughened them for tournament time.
"There was a time when we played 10 games, and seven of those 10 games were against top 15 teams," Plymouth coach Lana Singleton said. "The NLC is good competition, but we play much tougher teams than some of the teams in the NLC."
Triton won the first game with good serving at the end by senior Megan Sarber. With the game tied 11-11, Sarber served the rest of the way for the 15-11 win. Her two aces and kills by juniors Jennifer Weissert and Jessica Kintzel gave Triton the last four points.
But then Plymouth discovered a Triton weakness.
The Pilgrims found a hole in the middle of the Triton defense, right between the Trojan front and back lines. They they hammered the ball to that spot every time they could.
It worked. The ball fell in repeatedly. The Triton defense couldn't return, much less get a hand on, Plymouth's shots.
Plymouth jumped ahead 10-1 in the second game and 8-2 in the third game.
Singleton credited one of her juniors for giving Plymouth the winning game plan.
"Libby Myers saw the hole in the middle," Singleton said. "She deserves a lot of the credit. She kept on hitting the ball hard and got I don't know how many kills. She was instrumental in our offense hitting that hole."
Triton coach Gayle Perry knew what was happening, but her team couldn't get the problem corrected in time.
"They really started attacking out of the middle, and we had a hard time," she said. "We were touching the ball, but we weren't blocking it. We didn't keep our hands in front of us to actually get the point block. We were satisfied just to touch the ball.
"We kind of lost our hitting for a while, and we're not a real good tip team."
The deficits in the last two games were simply too big for Triton to overcome on Plymouth's home floor.
"I thought we were very competitive," Perry said. "We just kept letting them get too big of a lead and having to fight back.
"Maybe if we would have got on track early in the game. But we just couldn't seem to do that."
Just as tough, Perry said, is coming in here knowing about Plymouth's success, knowing about the 16-year winning streak. That makes it a huge mental battle, she said.
"That is tough," she said. "They have great history. I think attitude has a lot to do with it. We came in, and all day we played tentative. I'm not sure quite how to get over that edge."
Triton got to the championship by beating Argos (14-10) 15-10, 15-12 Saturday morning. The Trojans had strong finishes in both games. Senior Holly Hepler had five straight service points as Triton went from a 10-10 tie to the 15-10 win. Senior Audra Meinert, Weissert and Hepler all delivered kills.
Argos jumped in front 12-6 the second game, but two kills by Sarber and two by Weissert helped give Triton the 13-12 lead. Junior Heather Barron served five straight points that put Triton in the lead for good.
Plymouth advanced to the championship by beating LaVille Thursday and John Glenn Saturday afternoon. The Pilgrims meet Culver in Saturday's Valparaiso Regional.
Afterward, several Triton fans hugged Perry, who fought back the tears. She called Plymouth the favorite to win earlier in the week. Still, Perry had to like Triton's chances, with this year's team being the best in school history. If there was ever a year somebody could knock Plymouth off, this seemed to be it, especially with this veteran Triton squad.
Perry realized that.
"I don't have any regrets, except that I lose my six seniors," she said.
In addition to Hepler and Meinert, Teri Hackett, Amy Peterson, Diane Hatch and Patricia Yarian also graduate.
Triton finished the season 25-7. The Trojans smashed the previous school record for wins, 19.
"I'm very proud of their effort," Perry said. "These kids did a lot of great things for Triton. We had our best season record, we tied John Glenn for the conference for the first time.
"They played hard. All I asked of them was to be competitive. If we were, we could go on and celebrate our season. We'll still do that." [[In-content Ad]]