Up 2-1 in the match Trinity volleyball was one set away from claiming its first regional championship in school history across any sport, but Daviess County decided to make some history of their own and battled to claim back-to-back 3rd Region Championships—the second in program history—with clutch play in the fourth and fifth sets (19-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-13, 15-8).
After Head Coach Daniel Morris was talking about how crucial it was to get ahead early throughout the tournament, Trinity did so to start the first set by grabbing a 6-2 lead.
A 3-0 run from the Lady Panthers cut the lead to 6-5, but a 3-0 run of the Lady Raiders own brought it right back to a 9-5 game.
Trinity was still out in front 12-9 later in the set, but a 5-0 run moments later gave Daviess County a 14-12 lead and forced a Lady Raiders timeout.
Up 15-13 junior Lexi Owen’s serve sailed out of bounds, sparking a 3-0 run to give Trinity a 16-15 lead and force a Lady Panthers timeout. Trinity was able to grab two more points before Daviess County responded, now owning an 18-16 lead.
The Lady Panthers tried to chip away at the score, but another missed serve cost them the set at 25-19 and gave Trinity a 1-0 lead.
Daviess County took control of the second to start taking advantage of some violations and nice serves to take a 6-3 lead. Up 6-5 moments later, the Lady Panthers sparked a 3-0 run to take a 9-5 lead.
Taking control of the pace of the game, Daviess County was able to jump out to a 13-7 lead and force a Lady Raiders timeout.
However, Trinity just kept chipping away. Down 16-11, a 3-0 run cut it to 16-14 and forced the Lady Panthers to take a timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Lady Raiders grabbed two more points to tie things up at 16-16. But Daviess County retaliated with a 6-0 run to go up 22-16.
A big block from Owen secured the second-set win for the Lady Panthers, tying things at 1-1 with the 25-18 win.
Both teams traded points back and forth to start the third set, with Trinity taking a 6-5 lead early. However, a 3-0 run quickly flipped the lead in Daviess County’s favor, 8-6.
Trinity was able knot things up later at 10-10, but an array of kills from YEAR Sydney DeRossitt made it 12-10. However, two straight points from the Lady Raiders right after and it was tied again at 12-12, as the Lady Panthers took a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Trinity was able to break through a few blocks from Daviess County and go up 15-13.
The Lady Panthers started to make a short run to tie it, but miscommunication led to the ball falling with no attempt at it and Daviess County took a timeout trailing 16-14.
Trinity seemed to be taking control of the set up 19-16, but a quick 3-0 run from the Lady Panthers tied it at 19-19.
The Lady Raiders were able to grab a 23-21 lead with a short outburst, but a big kill from Newcom had Daviess County knocking on the doorstep down 23-22.
But nice placement from the Lady Raiders came in clutch, securing the third set 25-22 to go up 2-1 in the match and find themselves one set away from a 3rd Region Championship.
Senior Cassidy Morris was instrumental in the Lady Raiders offensive prowess, finding hoes in the defense repeatedly and finishing with a team-leading 17 kills.
With the end of their season staring them in the face, the Lady Panthers got off to a strong start in the fourth set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. They continued to be in charge over the next few points, going up 7-2 and forcing a Trinity timeout.
Daviess County continued its run out of the timeout, as a 5-0 outburst gave them an 11-2 lead. The Lady Panthers didn’t take their foot of the gas either, expanding their lead to 15-3 and forcing the Lady Raiders to take another timeout.
Trinity tried to chip at the lead with a little run, but a serve flew into the net leaving Daviess County up 18-6.
The Lady Panthers had all the momentum in the set and walked away with a 25-13 win despite the Lady Raiders best comeback efforts, forcing a fifth set.
Daviess County had gotten off to a slow start offensively on the night, but they picked up the tempo big time in the fourth set.
“I think we just kind of started off slow,” Newcom said. “We didn’t come out with enough energy, but as soon as the little things started going for us we got hyped and we were ready.”
Head Coach Tyla Bailey agreed, saying that when they are playing fast and attacking the net quickly, they are at their best.
“Sometimes it takes a little while to get us going,” Bailey said. “But once we’re going and we’re running and we’re going fast, fast, fast, we’re hard to beat.”
Trinity got on top to start the fifth set, as a violation on Daviess County gave them a 1-0 lead. The Lady Raiders kept applying pressure on the Lady Panthers early, but three kills from Newcom had things even at 4-4.
Newcom stayed hot with a little help from DeRossitt, as Newcom had four kills and an ace to give them a 9-5 lead in the set. But Trinity wasn’t going away, cutting it to 10-7 before a timeout.
The Lady Raiders kept trying to chip away, taking another timeout down 13-8 after a big kill from DeRossitt.
The timeout didn’t stop Daviess County’s momentum, as they won the next two points to win the fifth set 15-8 and became back-to-back 3rd Region Champions with a 3-2 win.
Not only is the win the Lady Panthers second in a row, it’s their second in school history. While they had been favorites in the region from the start of the tournament, Bailey said that a lot of people had other ideas at the beginning of the season.
“Going into it I felt like early on in the season everybody kind of doubted us and thought ‘well they had a strong season this year but I don’t think they can do it again,’” Bailey said. “So just knowing we used that to prove the naysayers wrong, I love it. We’ve just adopted the mindset of the sky is limit and these girls come out every single day and just play. That’s all I can ask for.”
Newcom and DeRossitt were instrumental in their success offensively, finishing with 21 and 15 kills respectively. Bailey said the two played great all-around games, with DeRossitt having a breakout game.
“DeRossitt had an awesome game,” Bailey said. “I feel like that was a long time coming, but tonight it just clicked for her. They did a great job.”
Owen set up the offense all night with 41 assists, while also chipping a solid effort defensively with nine digs and five blocks.
Owen led the team in that category, as the team picked up its play at the net after a slow start defensively.
“Early on our block kind of struggled,” Bailey said. “Trinity was really using that to their advantage. But then later we talked about it and made the small adjustments and they were able to shut Trinity down.”
Four Lady Panthers finished in double figures in digs on the night, including senior Kayla Clark (28), Newcom (16), junior Mary Grace Hill (11), junior Taylor Roberts (10), as the team finished with 89 digs.
While Morris led the Lady Raiders in kills, sophomore Hannah Nash followed closely behind with 14 kills. Junior Josie Aull set up the team’s offense all night, recording 42 assists.
Defensively the Lady Raiders had four players finish in double figures in digs including senior Taylor Pedley (21), sophomore Georgia Howard (15), Aull (11) and junior Abby Payne (10).
Trinity had momentum building win after win in the tournament as the underdog despite having a stellar regular season, looking to make history. However, the Lady Panthers had it in the back of their minds all week that they would be the ones changing the record books.
“All week it had been all about setting history for them,” Bailey said. “We thought ‘well we’re setting history as well by getting a repeat.’ They definitely came out on fire and they definitely came out wanting, but thankfully my girls came back and said ‘nope, not happening. We’re setting history here.’ So I’m very proud of that.”
While it wasn’t the result that they wanted, Head Coach Daniel Morris is thrilled with the way the Lady Raiders fought all year long en route to a 27-6 record.
“We’ve never been here before and had a record season,” Morris said. “We’ve busted our butts all year long and I’m overwhelmed by how we’ve played all year long.”
Despite not grabbing their first regional title, the trip to the 3rd Region Championship was the first time Trinity Athletics had made it to a title game since softball around 1998. Morris said that alone is a meaningful accomplishment for the program, the school and for the community as well.
“It’s huge,” Morris said. “Compared from 1,800 kids to 105, it just shows that a school with 105 can take on anybody. It doesn’t matter how many kids they have in their school.”
With a strong core of underclassmen returning to the team, Morris is thrilled to have gotten his players valuable experience to hopefully bring them back to a 3rd Region Championship game in the future.
“It’s great,” Morris said. “It’s [valuable] experience. My young ones have been in, they’ve experienced the environment, they’ve experienced the tournament and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Meanwhile Daviess County quickly turns its attention to the state tournament, where they will hit the road and look to continue to conquer as a team when they take on Bowling Green at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 1st.
