Lady Trojans off to 2-0 district start
A look of relief washed over Trinity volleyball coach Mia Langi’s face when junior middle Elli Merchant spiked home the final point of the Lady Trojans’ District 7-6A opening win (29-27, 22-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-9) over rival L.D. Bell.
Bell had taken a 2-1 lead in the match behind the service of liberos Meagan Madden and Bella Burns and the hitting of Allison Barton and Sidra Triplett. Madden had six service aces in the match and served 11 straight points in the second set. Barton led Bell with 24 kills and Triplett added 22, as the Raiders (12-18, 0-2 District 7-6A) took control of the match after dropping the opening set.
Barton’s cross-court kill gave Bell a 14-8 lead in the second set before Trinity went on a 10-3 run to take an 18-17 lead on setter Margaret Dean’s kill. But Bell outscored Trinity 8-4 to finish the set, and right side Shawna Glick sealed set two for Bell, 25-22, with a kill across Trinity’s front line.
Bell owned the third after the two teams battled to a 12-12 tie midway through the set. Barton’s authoritative cross-court kill gave the Lady Raiders a 19-14 lead before Triplett’s kill through the Trinity block was followed by an ace from Burns to put away the third.
But Trinity (22-8, 2-0), defending its home court in its district opener, wasn’t going away. Junior Elli Merchant, who had 13 kills and four blocks for the Lady Trojans, made sure of that.
“I just felt something different about the team,” Merchant said. “We’re in district now, and we are going to have to work hard for what we want. That’s just what we do, we come back strong,”
Merchant was instrumental in the fourth and fifth sets, leading Trinity through a back-and-forth fourth set and keying the fifth-set win with four kills and a block. The Lady Trojans built a 5-0 lead early in the fifth, and Merchant rose up for a kill through the teeth of Bell’s blocking wall that gave Trinity a 15-9 win in the fifth and a 1-0 record to start district play.
“They know that [Merchant is] going to take care of the ball,” Langi said of her team. “So they all trust her to put those balls away, and that’s what Elli did.”
Dean had seven kills, four blocks and 15 digs in the win as well for Trinty. Junior libero led the Lady Trojan defense with 19 digs, and Zoe Howard added nine kills in the win.
Trinity followed up the win in the rivalry match with another Friday (22-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-22) against Richland. Merchant and senior middle Abby Morphew led the Lady Trojan offense with 12 kills apiece, as the Lady Trojans adjusted after dropping the first set of their first away match in district play. Amanda McDowell led the Lady Trojan defense against Richland with 32 digs, while Dean tallied 23.
The Lady Trojans will travel to Southlake Carroll to tangle with the state’s No. 1 ranked Class 6A volleyball team on Tuesday before playing at Colleyville Heritage on Friday. Bell will play host to Heritage on Tuesday and Coppell on Friday as the Lady Raiders look to get their first win in District 7-6A play.
This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 12:12 PM with the headline "Lady Trojans off to 2-0 district start."