Playing against each other for the second time in less than 10 days, the Tri-Valley Mustang and the West Central Trojan volleyball teams clashed on Monday, October 26th at Tri-Valley High School.
The Mustangs took the match in straight sets again, this time by scores of 25-18, 27-25, and 25-15.
Tri-Valley got things rolling early as they jumped out to a 7-3 lead. The lead quickly grew to eight at 13-5. The Trojans battled to within two points at 17-15. The Mustangs responded to push the lead back to five points at 22-17 and eventually winning the set 25-18.
The Mustangs again got to an early lead in the second set. Tri-Valley led 11-5. West Central then went on a 12-1 run to take a 17-12 lead. Tri-Valley pulled within a point a couple of times, but West Central was able to keep the lead and held a 23-20 advantage. The Trojans were at set point at 24-22, but Tri-Valley tied the score at 24-24. West Central got the next point for a 25-24 lead to force set point again. Tri-Valley then scored the next three points to get the come-from-behind 27-25 win.
The momentum of that win propelled Tri-Valley to another early lead at 10-5. West Central scored four in a row to pull within a point at 10-9. The Trojans tied the set at 11-11. The Mustangs then scored the next five points for a 16-11 lead. Tri-Valley then closed out the set on a 9-4 run for the 25-15 win.
The Trojans were led by Brooke Opitz with 23 set assists, 10 digs, three blocks, and two ace serves. Cassidy Siemonsma had nine kills and five blocks. Jenna Lueth finished with 14 digs. Grace Harden had five kills.
Blayne Gacke had 13 digs, six kills, and five ace serves for the Mustangs. Kaitlyn Mohnen had 13 digs, eight kills and six blocks. Hannah West also finished with 13 digs. Tabor Teel had nine blocks. Grace Schildhauer had a team-high 18 set assists, and Brookelyn Stieben had eight set assists.
This was the final regular season match for the Mustangs. Tri-Valley finishes their regular season with a record of 9-10. West Central will finish their regular season at home on Tuesday, October 27th against Parker.
The two teams look to be headed for another match against one another in the opening round of the Region 3A tournament.