From left, Triton volleyball players Taytum Hargrave, Emma Ross, Sydney Musilli, Hannah Wanemacher, Nicole Sechrist and Abbey Viers huddle up between points at the Culver Community Sectional while head coach Gayle Perry and the Triton bench cheer them on last Saturday. The Blue Slam head back to Culver for the regional round of the state tournament this Saturday. (File photos by James Costello)

BOURBON — Triton’s volleyball team has made itself a home away from home at Culver Community.

Arriving at last Tuesday’s Sectional 51-opener and expecting her team to be in it for the long haul, head coach Gayle Perry told her players to get comfortable. They seemed comfortable enough cruising through three matches in only 10 games en route to a fourth-straight sectional title, and the Blue Slam will be looking to defend their adopted home turf when the Regional 13 tournament convenes at Culver Saturday.

“Before we got off the bus for the first match against South Central I said ‘This is home, so get used to that orange and black in there and get used to that gym,’” recalled Perry. “We’ve had the advantage of playing there. I think it’s a great place to pass; it’s a good place to play in. We’re excited. We’re glad to be there.”

For the past three years, Triton has ruled the Sectional 51 field only to run into juggernaut Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian in the regional round of the state tournament, but the stars have aligned to give Triton volleyball its best chance since the program’s last regional title in 2002.

A new four-team tournament format and coincident schedule shift from Tuesday to Saturday has players feeling more at ease after a similar setup at last weekend’s sectional. But more importantly, 2016 Class A state champion Blackhawk has been bumped up into the 2A tournament, leaving a lane open for the Trojans.

A core of four returning Blue Slam seniors who boast a combined 10 years of experience at the regional level heading into Saturday’s semifinals say they’re ready to seize the opportunity.

Nicole Sechrist elevates during sectional play.

“We’re excited that we made it past sectional, but we just want to win so bad because it’s our fourth year and we’ve lost three years in a row,” said senior outside hitter Nicole Sechrist.

“I want it so bad,” echoed middle hitter Charlotte Morris. “I believe in all of us, and if we don’t get down and we communicate and we talk… we are just going to go through the roof.

“I’m just happy we aren’t playing Blackhawk this year, and we can take it all the way.”

At 16-16, Triton is the only team without a winning record in the Culver Regional field. Lakewood Park Christian holds a 17-12 mark, while Morgan Township and Pioneer — ranked 10th and sixth, respectively, in the last coaches poll — own a combined 49 wins between them. Records don’t tell the whole story, though, and the Blue Slam like their chances.

“If we aren’t afraid to make a mistake or get down on ourselves, no one can stop us but ourselves,” explained senior setter Hannah Wanemacher. “We have the height. We have the strength. We have everything. If we just use everything at once, no one is going to be able to stop us.”

“We’re just excited,” said Perry. “We know we’re 16-16, and most teams are probably saying ‘How are they there, and why are they there?’ But you know what? We’re still standing, and we’re still getting better every day. I’m anxious, they’re anxious, we’re really excited to play on Saturday.”

First up for Triton is a rematch with Hoosier North Athletic Conference opponent Pioneer in the late semifinal at noon Saturday. The Blue Slam took a loss in four sets the last time they played the Panthers back on Sept. 26, but all but the third of those games were close and could’ve swung the other way. And the Triton team that shows up opposite Pioneer Saturday will look a little different than the one that took the court in that last meeting.

Junior libero Sydney Musilli was out with an illness, but then so was the Panthers’ own junior defensive specialist Haley Gleitz. The real ace up Triton’s sleeve is the return to form of Morris — the team’s leading hitter behind Sechrist — who was playing in just her first match back from a three-week layoff with a sprained IT band in the last go-round with Pioneer. Her presence in the middle has given the Blue Slam another weapon and an entirely different look.

Sydney Musilli serves for Triton last weekend.

“I definitely think that we have an advantage because I wasn’t completely back yet and definitely feel a lot better. I’m getting to where I was before I got hurt,” said Morris. “I definitely feel like we’ve got it with having our libero there because she was sick. So we have our whole team, and we’ve been growing so much, especially in sectional. We flew, and it’s very exciting to see us come together like that.”

“Really all season we haven’t had our whole team together since the first or second match. These past few weeks we’ve been flying. It’s gotten a lot better having everyone back and healthy,” Sechrist said. “We know it’s going to be tough, but we do think we can win it.”

Triton’s returning seniors are ready, but apart from Wanemacher, Sechrist, Morris, and third-year varsity outside hitter Emma Ross, the rest of the Blue Slam lineup will be playing in its first regional come Saturday. If Perry is nervous about how those less experienced players might perform, though, she isn’t showing it.

“They’ll follow the seniors’ lead,” said Perry. “And our seniors, we do a great job — we’re a pretty close team. I think the seniors — especially Hannah, our setter, Nikki, Char — they’re very adept at how the young kids are feeling, what’s going on. They just keep talking to them and keep encouraging them, and I think it’ll be OK. The young ones desperately don’t want to lose for the older ones.”

Besides, the Triton team that has won five straight and seven of its last eight still hasn’t reached its ceiling yet. If there’s more left in them, Saturday will be the time for the Blue Slam to bring it out, and if they Slam do, look out.

“I think what the kids are saying, I agree with — I think we can play with anybody there. It’s going to come down to whether we decide to all play, and we haven’t had that yet,” Perry said. “We’ve been close, but we haven’t peaked yet. We’re hoping that this weekend we might.”