Triton’s varsity volleyball team snapped a four-match skid with a big win Monday, edging rival Midway on the road in a five-set battle to avenge a five-set home loss from Aug. 27 and pick up some much-needed momentum heading into the start of conference play. Individual set scores were 22-25, 25-20, 18-25, 29-27 and 15-13.

“This game was definitely the momentum we need going into conference,” said Triton senior Ella Layn. “We two big games this week, especially Union Pines. To have this momentum and finally another win I think will really help us.”

“I felt like the girls fought hard the whole time and didn’t give up, even when we were down,” said Triton coach Wendy Simmons. “I changed the lineup around and got a couple of people in different positions and I think it’s made a difference.”

Midway coach Brandy Wrench cited costly miscues and Triton’s ability to capitalize on them as the biggest factors in the loss.

“Triton took advantage of us making too many errors,” coach Wrench said. “We weren’t moving and they knew where to put the ball when we weren’t moving. They’re a good team. They strategized against us. They used our errors and our mistakes and they rallied on it and we didn’t. We didn’t finish it and that was on us the whole night. We had a lot of in the net calls, some of which were questionable, but we can still control what we do. We can’t control what’s called or what the other team does. When we don’t finish out plays or we cheer too early and a ball falls because we’re too busy cheering. Stuff like that is what changes the game.”

The loss marks the first time Midway has lost consecutive matches since August of 2015.

Triton senior Ella Layn had been the primary setter for the Hawks (5-7) this season, but Simmons decided to move her back to the outside, where she played her previous three seasons, and have juniors Breighanna Hobbs and Tyler Grace Gamblin handle the bulk of the setting role. All three thrived in the new roles, recording double-doubles in the contest. Layn had 10 kills and 11 digs, Gamblin had nine kills, 20 assists and 18 digs and Hobbs had eight kills, 19 assists and 12 digs.

“We talked about it in practice and I think Breigh and Tyler Grace really did a good job,” Simmons said. “They made a couple of young mistakes, but that’s something we can fix. They really helped feed off of each other and I hope they continue to see that they are capable of doing that. It’s not very often you can have three setters out there on the floor at the same time that are capable of scoring points.”

“It definitely has made me focus more on my passing,” Layn said. “It’s definitely less pressure having to decide who to go to and I’m always confident in my hits.”

Gamblin, with six aces on 11 service points, and Layn, with six aces on 10 service points, also led Triton at the service line. Their six aces apiece were co-match-high totals.

“I think I was just really focusing on my toss,” Layn said. “That’s usually the reason why I miss it. I haven’t been serving too great, but I’ve been working really hard in practice on just keeping my toss in the same place and I think it finally paid off tonight.”

Hannah Jackson had seven kills, two blocks, seven digs and one ace on two service points. Evie Pollard had five kills, a co-match-high three blocks and seven digs and held serve for one point. Addie Matthews had two kills, eight digs and two aces on six service points. Gracyn Slaughter had one kill, one assist, 24 digs and two aces on 12 service points. Hobbs held serve for nine points.

Junior Caitlyn Holland recorded a triple-double to lead the Raiders (7-2), with a match-high 11 kills, match-high 21 assists, 16 digs and four aces on 12 service points.

Alyssa Wrench had seven kills, one assist, a co-match-high three blocks, 10 digs and three aces on nine service points. Karlee Martin had six kills, one assist, 10 digs and two aces on six service points. Erin Barefoot had six kills, three digs and one ace on 16 service points. Alexis Jackson had four kills, one dig and one ace on five service points. Maranda Byrd had three kills, one assist and a match-high 27 digs. Sydney Williams had two kills, 11 assists, two digs and three aces on eight service points. Jordan Wallum had two kills and six digs. Natalie McPhail had two assists and two digs.”

Midway was without junior hitter Makayla Chavis, who is recovering from a tonsillectomy.

Service errors were costly for Midway, as the Raiders missed a total of 13 serves in the match.

“We already said tomorrow we’re coming in and that’s the first thing we’re doing is serving,” coach Wrench said. “We’ve got to clean up our mistakes.”

With Triton leading 16-14 late in the first set, a Barefoot kill, assisted by Holland, sparked a 10-0 Midway run. Triton fought off six set points, including three aces from Layn, but a service error ended the set in Midway’s favor.

In the second set, it was Triton’s turn to rally late. With Midway holding a 17-14 lead, a Pollard blocked ignited an 11-3 Triton run, with a Slaughter kill from the back row, assisted by Hobbs, tying the match.

With the score tied 11-11 in the third set, Midway took control with a 7-1 run and held off the Hawks from there. An Alexis Jackson ace ended the set.

Triton held a late 23-18 lead in the fourth set when Midway scored five unanswered to tie the match. The teams battled through extra points until, with the score tied 27-27, a Midway error and a Gamblin ace sent the match to the decisive fifth set.
Midway was two points away from taking the match, holding a 13-11 lead late in the fifth set. But a Layn kill, assisted by Hobbs, sparked a 4-0 run, capped by a match-ending ace from Slaughter.

Midway won the junior varsity contest 2-1.

Monday’s match was the first of three matches in three days for each team.

Triton opens Tri-County Six 3-A Conference play at home against Southern Lee (6-1) on Tuesday before traveling to Union Pines (9-1) on Wednesday (moved up from Thursday due to the threat of Hurricane Florence). Triton and Union Pines shared the regular season conference title last season, but the Vikings won the conference tournament.

“I think we just have to not get down,” Layn said. “That’s been our biggest problem. We get down in a rut and can’t get out of it, but tonight we did really good on that. So, we just have to keep working on that throughout our next games.”

Midway hosts East Central 2-A Conference foe James Kenan (0-8, 0-3 ECC) on Tuesday before traveling to nonconference foe Princeton (3-3) on Wednesday. Midway is currently 3-1 in conference play after falling 3-0 Thursday at East Duplin, the Raiders’ first conference loss since a 3-1 loss to Clinton on Oct. 6, 2015.