Valley Spikers Top Triton
September 8, 2017 at 4:29 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
The Lady Trojans lost senior Charlotte Morris to a knee injury in warmups, then fell behind early after four aces by Valley’s Olivia Trippiedi. The end result was a 25-10, 25-21, 25-19 non-conference win for the host Lady Vikings.
In Morris’ absence, the Lady Trojans deployed reinforcements that lack the height and experience of the senior middle hitter. That helped Valley consistently find holes on the Triton side of the floor, and with good serving and passing Valley was able to take advantage.
The Lady Vikings used a 7-0 run, including four aces by senior libero Trippiedi, to take a 9-4 lead at the start. Separate runs of six and five points allowed Valley to easily win the first set.
“All season I’ve been harping on it; ball control, serving and passing. Those are things we can control. We’ve never been a sizeable team, so we have to outsmart them, and outwork them,” Lady Vikings coach Mallory Eaton said.
“What was nice is we had a lot of people step up and carry the load. I thought we passed pretty well, and Trippiedi got us off to a good start with those aces. The kid could hit a dime on the floor with her serve.”
The second set was much tighter, with neither team leading by more than two points until Valley scored seven of the last nine to win. Afterward, Valley players danced some as they prepared for the third set.
“I saw us having fun and being confident, and that’s really nice for a coach to see, now that we’re halfway through the season. It’s nice to see the kids settle in and keep working,” Eaton said.
Triton played its best volleyball of the match to start the third set, taking a 12-6 lead before Valley came roaring back to put away the match.
“We talked a lot about just finishing the game. There’s going to be points where it’s tight and a team might get a run, but you don’t sweat it,” Eaton said. “You keep chipping away, one point at time, and once you’ve made up that momentum, now they’re the ones that are nervous. We wanted them to finish it, don’t let them linger, and finish points quickly, and move on.”
Trippiedi finished with five aces, and Sophie Bussard had 10 kills for Valley.
Having players in new and unfamiliar positions hurt the Triton passing game, according to coach Gayle Perry.
“We were short our second-leading hitter before the game started. Charlotte hurt her knee about a week ago, then landed funny and it went out again. (Trainers) don’t think it’s anything serious.
“But we lost her, so now we have people playing where they’re not used to playing, and it was pretty helter skelter. I thought we competed pretty well under the circumstances, but we’re not passing as well as we need to.”
Nichole Sechrist led the Lady Trojans with 10 kills, two aces and two blocks. Hannah Wanemacher had 19 assists and two blocks, and Tatum Hargrave had nine digs.
Valley improved to 11-5 and will host Columbia City Monday in a non-conference match. Triton is 5-5 and will host its annual tournament Saturday.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 3, TRITON 0
T 10 21 19
TV 25 25 25
TRITON (leaders): Kills – Nicole Sechrist 10; Assists – Hannah Wanemacher 19; Aces – Sechrist 2; Digs – Tatum Hargrave 9; Blocks – Sechrist 2, Wanemacher 2.
VALLEY (leaders): Kills – Sophie Bussard 12, Makenzie Woodcox 11; Assists – Emily Peterson 31; Aces – Olivia Trippiedi 11; Blocks – Woodcox 2, Bussard 2, Hannah Jansma 2.
Records: Triton 5-5, Valley 11-5
JV – Tippecanoe Valley def. Triton 25-12, 25-12
Valley (leaders): Kills – Sidney Wagner 7; Digs – Wagner 2; Aces – Hayley Backus 4, Assists – Sarah Myers 10.
Record: Valley 13-2
E-Editions
The Lady Trojans lost senior Charlotte Morris to a knee injury in warmups, then fell behind early after four aces by Valley’s Olivia Trippiedi. The end result was a 25-10, 25-21, 25-19 non-conference win for the host Lady Vikings.
In Morris’ absence, the Lady Trojans deployed reinforcements that lack the height and experience of the senior middle hitter. That helped Valley consistently find holes on the Triton side of the floor, and with good serving and passing Valley was able to take advantage.
The Lady Vikings used a 7-0 run, including four aces by senior libero Trippiedi, to take a 9-4 lead at the start. Separate runs of six and five points allowed Valley to easily win the first set.
“All season I’ve been harping on it; ball control, serving and passing. Those are things we can control. We’ve never been a sizeable team, so we have to outsmart them, and outwork them,” Lady Vikings coach Mallory Eaton said.
“What was nice is we had a lot of people step up and carry the load. I thought we passed pretty well, and Trippiedi got us off to a good start with those aces. The kid could hit a dime on the floor with her serve.”
The second set was much tighter, with neither team leading by more than two points until Valley scored seven of the last nine to win. Afterward, Valley players danced some as they prepared for the third set.
“I saw us having fun and being confident, and that’s really nice for a coach to see, now that we’re halfway through the season. It’s nice to see the kids settle in and keep working,” Eaton said.
Triton played its best volleyball of the match to start the third set, taking a 12-6 lead before Valley came roaring back to put away the match.
“We talked a lot about just finishing the game. There’s going to be points where it’s tight and a team might get a run, but you don’t sweat it,” Eaton said. “You keep chipping away, one point at time, and once you’ve made up that momentum, now they’re the ones that are nervous. We wanted them to finish it, don’t let them linger, and finish points quickly, and move on.”
Trippiedi finished with five aces, and Sophie Bussard had 10 kills for Valley.
Having players in new and unfamiliar positions hurt the Triton passing game, according to coach Gayle Perry.
“We were short our second-leading hitter before the game started. Charlotte hurt her knee about a week ago, then landed funny and it went out again. (Trainers) don’t think it’s anything serious.
“But we lost her, so now we have people playing where they’re not used to playing, and it was pretty helter skelter. I thought we competed pretty well under the circumstances, but we’re not passing as well as we need to.”
Nichole Sechrist led the Lady Trojans with 10 kills, two aces and two blocks. Hannah Wanemacher had 19 assists and two blocks, and Tatum Hargrave had nine digs.
Valley improved to 11-5 and will host Columbia City Monday in a non-conference match. Triton is 5-5 and will host its annual tournament Saturday.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 3, TRITON 0
T 10 21 19
TV 25 25 25
TRITON (leaders): Kills – Nicole Sechrist 10; Assists – Hannah Wanemacher 19; Aces – Sechrist 2; Digs – Tatum Hargrave 9; Blocks – Sechrist 2, Wanemacher 2.
VALLEY (leaders): Kills – Sophie Bussard 12, Makenzie Woodcox 11; Assists – Emily Peterson 31; Aces – Olivia Trippiedi 11; Blocks – Woodcox 2, Bussard 2, Hannah Jansma 2.
Records: Triton 5-5, Valley 11-5
JV – Tippecanoe Valley def. Triton 25-12, 25-12
Valley (leaders): Kills – Sidney Wagner 7; Digs – Wagner 2; Aces – Hayley Backus 4, Assists – Sarah Myers 10.
Record: Valley 13-2
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