Emma Hepler and Triton head into the regional with an eight-match win streak ahead of its contest against Kouts at Culver this Saturday. InkFreeNews file photo by Nick Goralczyk

By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews

CULVER – Triton ran into very little opposition in rattling off three lopsided wins to claim the Triton sectional championship. That will rapidly change if it wants to add a regional championship.

Derek Eveland’s club gave up just 33 points in its sweep of West Central in the championship match at Triton last weekend, and as the old adage goes, you beat who is in front of you. And for the past two weeks, Triton (24-10) has done that in rattling off eight straight wins going back to a loss against Class 3-A regional qualifier New Prairie at the Dunes Tourney. All of the past eight wins came in straight sets.

“We are very confident right now, riding an eight-match winning streak,” said Eveland, who is in his first year with the Trojans as they prepare for the Class 1-A Culver Volleyball Regional. “Our competition over that stretch has been very up and down. I feel as though our girls have been doing a much better job lately of playing at our level and not letting down due to competition strength. We are senior-lad and it shows, most of our girls are very good at adjusting during matches.”

Business is going to pick up in a hurry for the Trojans at Culver, where No. 6 Kouts will be waiting. The 23-5 Mustangs are led by the duo of Sophia Foster and Makenzie Martin. Foster leads the team with 279 kills and 285 digs and Martin 257 kills and 202 digs, the duo are two of five Mustangs with at least 100 digs this season.

Lauryn Koedyker adds size in the middle with her 117 kills and 67 blocks, Abby Maier is the team’s defensive ace with 330 digs, Taylor Moyer is one of the top setters in the region with 752 helpers, and as a whole, the team has recorded a whopping 330 aces from the service line.

Kouts started its season 0-4 against bigger teams, but settled in to go 23-1 since.

“We have no doubt that Kouts, being a ranked team, will have many weapons,” Eveland said. “That is definitely a tough sectional they come out of, so we know they are well coached and very team oriented. They seem to be very similar to our style, as they feel the match out and then work on getting runs. It looks like they have a balanced attack, but are for sure led by two outstanding hitters in Foster and Martin. Their defense also resembles ours and they get to a lot of balls.”

The senior-laden Trojans, however, won’t be a pushover. Once ranked No. 1 in Class 1-A, Triton can pound the ball with the best of them. Seniors Abbey Viers and Lexia Hostrawser have been the lynchpins, Viers with 308 kills and 88 blocks and Hostrawser with 219 kills and 58 blocks. Abbey’s younger sister, Addyson, has come on with 251 kills and 62 blocks.

Molly McFarland has led a very solid backline, digging 428 attempts this season and Emma Hepler has really commanded the Triton offense with 833 assists.

“My group of seniors have been to the regionals twice before so they are looking forward to making this the year to move on,” Eveland said.

Game two of the Culver Regional will feature Lakewood Park (13-10) against No. 3 Pioneer (26-3). Should Triton and Pioneer advance, the two Hoosier North Athletic Conference foes will renew their rivalry that had the teams play to a 3-2 result in late September, the Panthers getting the win.

The championship match at Culver is scheduled for 7 p.m.