The Triton volleyball team claimed its third straight sectional championship Saturday night at Oregon-Davis. The Trojans will play at No. 7 Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian in a regional match on Tuesday night.

HAMLET – Triton volleyball coach Gayle Perry knows a thing or two about winning in the postseason.

The veteran coach, who returned to the sidelines to guide the Trojans this season for a second time, also knows the competition will just get tougher.

Perry is fine with that too.

The Triton coach watched Saturday night as her strong and youthful team took care of business as the sectional favorites by rolling past host Oregon-Davis 3-0 in the Class 1-A sectional finale.

Triton took just about one hour to dispose of the Bobcats 25-9, 25-19, 25-11 to claim the program’s third straight sectional championship and the eighth in program history.

The Trojans topped South Central 25-20, 25-15, 25-22 in the semifinal earlier in the day. Oregon-Davis beat Culver 25-9, 25-12, 25-13 in the other semifinal matchup Saturday.

Standout libero Quinn Downing makes a pass Saturday night.

Perry, who stepped up and stepped in to guide the Trojans when she was hired in late July just before the season, is looking forward to a regional date come Tuesday night at Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian. The No. 7 Braves, who beat Bethany Christian 3-0 to win the Hamilton Sectional title Saturday night, have beaten the Trojans in the regional round of the state tournament the past two seasons.

Blackhawk, which has won each of the previous regional meetings with Triton by 3-0 finals, sits at 26-5 this season. The Braves have won three regional championships in a row and lost to Lafayette Central Catholic 3-1 in the semistate title match a year ago.

“We will be ready come Tuesday night,” said Perry following the sectional final. “Blackhawk may be the favorite, but we play better against the tougher teams. Bring it on. We want to have some one who will hit the ball at us.

“I feel good where we are at right now. We played lights out Thursday (in a sectional win over No. 13 North Miami). That was our best match of the season. The thing is that we are still a work in progress and have not peaked yet.

“These girls have come a long way this season. It was hard at them at the start. I’m pretty demanding. But they have been eager to learn. They are like sponges. And we have a good connection.”

The connection was fine for the Trojans Saturday night. Triton rolled out to a 12-4 lead to set the tone from the start in the opening game. The Trojans got strong serving from junior Emma Ross, outstanding play from senior libero Quinn Downing and a dominating performance at the net by the trio of juniors Courtney Jennings and Charlotte Morris and sophomore Kaitlin Bailey.

Perry opted to go deep into her bench in the second game. The Trojans still controlled the set and then rolled in the third to complete the shutout.

Triton’s players have a tight grip on the sectional hardware.

“We have a powerful hitting team and a good blocking team too,” noted Perry, who won four sectionals and the only two regional titles in program history (both in Class 2-A at the time) in her first stint at Triton from 1987-2007. “Our libero (Quinn Downing) is one of the best. She means everything to us.”

The Trojans, who have four seniors, were led by Jennings and junior Nicole Sechrist in the title match. Jennings powered down 13 kills and Sechrist slammed eight versus the smaller Bobcats.

Courtney Jennings prepares to serve.

“We felt like if we did what we had to do and played as a team that we would come out on top,” said Sechrist of being the sectional favorites going into the week. “Obviously, our goal now is to win the regional after losing to Blackhawk the past two years.”

Count Sechrist, who led the team with 17 kills in the semifinal win over South Central, with being sold on their new coach.

“I love it,” said Sechrist of playing for Perry. “It was hard at first, but it’s been unbelievable. We just keep getting better.”

Junior Hannah Wanemacher had 28 assists in the title match for the Trojans. Sechrist had two aces and Downing 14 digs and Morris three blocks.

Sechrist put down 17 kills  and Jennings seven in the semifinal victory. Wanemacher had 27 assists and 10 digs.  Ross had seven aces and Jennings two and Morris five blocks.

Triton will take a 22-11 mark into the regional clash with Blackhawk Christian.

Kaitlin Bailey (No. 13) puts up a big block for the Trojans.