Alexis Howard makes a dig for Triton on Monday.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Triton’s varsity volleyball team continued regaining momentum it lost in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence with a sweep of visiting Harnett County and Tri-County Six 3-A Conference rival Western Harnett on Monday, the Hawks’ second straight win over the Eagles. Individual set scores were 25-16, 25-15 and 25-14.
“For a while I think we were still trying to find the right people in the right place,” said Triton coach Wendy Simmons. “Do we run a 6-2? Do we run a 5-1? Who does it? That kind of stuff. I think now that we’ve made the decisions we’ve made, they’ve started playing a lot better. If you want to start peaking, now’s the time to do it. We’re still not quite where we want to be yet. They can compete with anybody they want to on any given day, but they’ve got to want to. I think they’re playing with more confidence. My hitters seem to be playing a little smarter. We’re working on some stuff where they’re not always trying to hit to the same spot. Things are starting to fall in place like they’re supposed to at this time of year.”
The match was played at Coats-Erwin Middle due to the repair work being done on Triton’s gym for the damage caused by the storm.
Triton’s performance at the service line was a key factor in the win, as the Hawks (8-11, 3-4 TCC) combined for 19 aces on 45 service points. Sophomore Gracyn Slaughter led all servers with seven aces on 17 service points.
“We work a lot on that, for them to be aggressive on their serve,” Simmons said. “I don’t mind them missing their serve if they’re being aggressive. If they’re standing on the floor and missing their serve, I have a problem with that. They’re working hard on it in practice. (Slaughter) keeps getting better and better.”
Hannah Jackson had a match-high seven kills, one block, two assists and three digs. Evie Pollard had five kills, one block, seven digs and three aces on five service points. Ella Layn had five kills, seven digs and two aces on six service points. Addie Matthews had five kills, one dig and four aces on six service points. Tyler Grace Gamblin had three kills, a match-high 21 assists, three digs and two aces on five service points. Slaughter had two kills, two assists and a match-high 11 digs. Breighanna Hobbs had one kill, one assist, four digs and one ace on five service points. Alexis Howard had four digs and held serve for one point.
Taylor Rosser had four kills, Makenya Mackey had eight assists and seven digs and Madison Farmer had 10 digs to lead the Eagles (3-11, 1-5).
Alissa Staton had three kills, one block and three digs and held serve for three points. Makenya Mackey had two kills and one ace on five service points. Jada Byrd had two kills and one dig. Aliyah Matthews had one assist and four digs and held serve for two points. Makiya Mackey had one assist, one block and three digs and held serve for two points. Farmer had one assist. Lindsey Matthews had five digs and one ace on two service points. Camdyn Eatmon had four assists and held serve for one point. Jordyn Neighbors had three digs. Rosser had one dig and held serve for two points.
Western Harnett never held a lead in any set.
Triton took full control of the first set when, with the Hawks leading 8-6, a Layn kill sparked a 6-1 run.
Another big run highlighted the second set for the Hawks. Leading 6-3, Triton went on a 10-0 run, including four aces from Slaughter.
It was an 8-2 run after taking a 6-4 lead early in the third set that put the Hawks in control in the third.
Triton also won the junior varsity match 2-1.
Western Harnett travels to Lee County Tuesday and is at home against Southern Lee Thursday.
Triton hosts Harnett Central on Tuesday and Lee County on Thursday for Senior Night. Tuesday will be at Coats-Erwin. Thursday’s matches will be at Cape Fear Christian Academy.
Alissa Staton (13) makes a block for the Eagles.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Western Harnett’s Jada Byrd makes a kill.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Gracyn Slaughter (13) of the Hawks is shown serving an ace.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Tyler Grace Gamblin (9) sets for a Triton kill.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Evie Pollard follows the set above with a kill.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Makenya Mackey (2) of Western gets a point at the net.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Jordyn Neighbors (5) of the Eagles makes a dig against Triton.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Madison Farmer digs for the Eagles in Monday’s match.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Hannah Jackson of the Hawks makes a block against Western.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Evie Pollard (left) and Ella Layn high five before the third set.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
