Triton’s seniors, from left, are Breigh Hobbs, Maddie Stephens, Tyler Grace Gamblin and Evie Pollard. (Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Triton’s varsity volleyball team celebrated its Senior Night by making short work of visiting Tri-County Six 3-A Conference and Harnett County rival Harnett Central with a 3-0 win on Thursday. Individual set scores were 25-9, 25-9 and 25-14.
“Where’s that been all year?” said Triton coach Wendy Simmons. “I knew they had it in them. I see them every day at practice. And we finally brought to the court what we do every day at practice and I was so proud to see that. I know what kind of team I have. I just needed them to believe it, too. It’s taken a while, but if you’re going to peak, this is the right time to do it.”
Harnett Central coach Jason Harrell said the Trojans never recovered from a rough start.
“I thought we were mentally ready, but we were not,” Harrell said. “We came out flat and just mentally, we were not sharp. We lost focus. I really felt like we were prepared and when we got out there and Triton started hitting the ball, we never recovered from it. It was a rough night.”
All four seniors were key contributors in the match for the Hawks (10-12, 4-6 TCSC). Breigh Hobbs had six kills, two assists, one dig and three aces on 13 service points. Evie Pollard had five kills, one assist, two blocks and 11 digs and held serve for one point. Tyler Grace Gamblin had a double-double, with one kill, 23 assists, 12 digs and four aces on 14 service points. Maddie Stephens had 12 digs and one ace on three service points.
“I’m kind of speechless in a way just for them to play like that all together at the same time,” Simmons said. “And playing smart. Mixing it up. Hitting it down the line.”
Junior Bethany Norris led Triton at the net with nine kills.
Triton was without sophomore Leah Brannon, a key contributor on both offense and defense, because of an injury. In her stead, fellow sophomore Grace Wilson had the best night of her varsity career, with six kills and three digs.
“She really did (step up),” Simmons said. “Against Union Pines (Tuesday) I had her out there, too, and it wasn’t her night. I told her, ‘You’ve got to go out there and play with confidence.’ I know she has the ability and she can jump and hit hard. I was so proud to see her do that tonight and play with the confidence and the excitement and everything else she brings out there on the court.”
Breonna McNeill had one kill, three blocks and two digs. Gracyn Slaughter had one kill, 13 digs and three aces on 13 service points. Norris had one dig and two aces on four service points.
Junior Syniah McMiller had five kills and one block, sophomore Carlee Harrell had 11 assists and senior Alexis Gordon had 13 digs to lead the Trojans (7-13, 4-6).
Ivanna Jones had three kills and seven digs and held serve for one point. Lauryn Waddell had three kills and one ace. Harper Howell had one kill and four digs and held serve for one point. Gordon had one assist. Carlee Harrell had seven digs. Madeline Langdon had five digs and two aces on four service points. Kayla Sadowski had three digs. McMiller and Angel Noto had one dig apiece.
“We tried to find a spark in different places and it didn’t work,” Harrell said. “It just seemed like it was one of those nights where all of our girls just had an off night. We just never recovered from it. And Triton played great.”
Central was without junior Laurie Blackwell, who is typically a strong defensive presence, because of a knee injury suffered against Southern Lee on Tuesday.
“Not having Laurie hurt us, but that’s not what cost us tonight,” Harrell said. “We had girls that were ready to step up. It just didn’t happen for us.”
Triton came out strong, jumping out to a 10-point lead at 13-3 and continued to dominate the set from there.
Central held a 5-4 lead early in the second set when a McNeill kill, assisted by Gamblin, sparked a 21-4 run to finish the set.
The third set was close early, but with Triton holding a 10-8 lead, the Hawks built a double-digit lead with a 10-2 run and did not let the lead drop below nine from there.
After the match, Triton had a ceremony to honor four seniors: Evie Pollard, Tyler Grace Gamblin, Breigh Hobbs and Maddie Stephens.
Triton’s junior varsity team took a 2-0 win to finish unbeaten in conference play. The JV Hawks ended the season with a record of 18-5 overall and 10-0 in conference play.
Triton and Harnett Central finished the varsity regular season tied for third in conference, but the Hawks have the tiebreaker for the third seed in the conference tournament because of winning both regular season matches against the Trojans.
Harnett Central will meet No. 5 Western Harnett (3-14, 3-6) in the first round of the conference tournament on Monday, with the winner advancing to face No. 1 Union Pines (21-2, 10-0). Triton will play No. 6 Lee County (3-16, 2-8) on Monday, with the winner advancing to meet No. 2 Southern Lee (11-8, 7-3). Both first round matches will be hosted by Triton.
Grace Wilson ended the match with a kill.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Breigh Hobbs goes up to put away a point for the Hawks.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Maddie Stephens makes a dig for Triton on Senior Night.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Tyler Grace Gamblin sets for the Hawks against Central.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Ivanna Jones hits for Harnett Central on Thursday.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Bethany Norris makes a kill in Triton’s 3-0 victory.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Gracyn Slaughter serves an ace for the Hawks.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Angel Noto makes a dig on Thursday for Harnett Central.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Reagan Bradham registers a kill for the Triton junior varsity.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Gracie Byrd serves an ace for the Triton JV in a 2-0 win.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Teagan Sychterz (3) goes up for a kill for the Hawk junior varsity.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
