Trinity blows away Shiloh Christian in straight-sets

Nov. 17—FARGO — The sky's the limit for Trinity High School, having removed the postseason monkey from the volleyball team's shoulders in a straight-sets victory Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023 and winning their first quarterfinal-round game in seven-years-worth of attempts at the Class B State Volleyball Tournament. After the Titans (37-1) dominated the contest — winning by scores of 25-19, 25-4 in set #2 and 25-16 to close out the match — the team looked just as sharp as expected, but with a first-round playoff win to their credit and a Friday-night, FargoDome date at 7 p.m. with Northern Cass, who also won in straight-sets and in dominant fashion by scores of 25-9, 25-12 and 25-22.

"I think any team that steps on this stage for the first time on the Thursday-night, first-game they are going to have some nerves running and they're going to have some adrenaline pumping, and so I think it was just getting some reps in and trying to calm those nerves and then focus on Titan volleyball," Trinity head volleyball coach Breanna Sisson said.

Trinity came into the postseason with a crystal-clear #1 ranking and they didn't disappoint throughout the quarterfinal match. While the first set was won by the slimmest of the three margins, it was still a sign the Titans are virtually unstoppable once they get rolling, and despite trading punches for the first 20 points, THS took a 12-8 lead into the first timeout as junior outside-hitter Bella Kovash built a solid lead from the service-line on a 5-point run that was followed by senior middle-hitter Ava Jahner's 3-point stretch through the middle stages. In the final 5 points of the opening set, Jahner stamped her authority on the contest with 3 of her team-high 12 kills on the night to end it at 25-19.

Set #2 was an absolute service-clinic hosted by senior setter Deaney Deschamp and her unbelievable run of 13-consecutive points to help Trinity build an early 14-0 lead before relinquishing the ball to the Skyhawks (31-9), and then the Titans tacked on another 4 points for an insurmountable 17-2 lead. During Deschamp's service-stretch, she dropped in 3 of her team-leading 4 aces on the court and the team wound up with 7 total during the match.

"Our service runs in that second set is definitely what did it: It pulled them out-of-system as best as we possibly could and Delaney, back there, had a great run," Sisson said. "She was serving exactly where we were trying to get them out-of-system and so we executed the game-plan perfectly."

Kills by senior outside-hitter Helena Pavek and senior middle-hitter Olivia Kessel were sprinkled throughout the boxscore during the three-set masterpiece, as Pavek registered 11 kills and Kessel clobbered 7 of her own at opportune times to help the team maintain momentum. Deschamp also put on a show with her ever-reliable shot-distribution and totaled another outstanding performance with a team-high 37 assists, while defensively adding 7 digs to her stat-sheet.

Set #3 was a slightly-different matter initially as the teams slugged their way to a 5-5 deadlock early on, but a series of hitting errors and a timely block from Kovash helped the Titans build a 14-9 lead at the first timeout and then pull away with a 5-point service game from Melissa Zach, who added 4 kills and 3 digs.

As it probably should have been — considering the circumstances — Jahner closed out the match with a thunderous kill for the 25th point of the final set and sent the Titans towards the semifinals. Other winners included the top-half of the bracket with May-Port-C-G upending Trenton by scores of 25-10, 25-10 and 25-23, which sets up a semifinal match with Our Redeemer's, who defeated New Rockford-Sheyenne 3-1 by scores of 25-19, 25-17, 23-25 and 25-19.

"We knew that Shiloh was going to come out swinging and they're fighting for their lives at that point; they have some great hitters over there that started putting the ball away that we weren't seeing in sets 1 and 2," Sisson said. "Once it starts over at zero-zero, we know we have to take it as a new game with new focus and take it point-by-point and never be satisfied until we hit 25."

Defensively, the Titans had a massive day, with a remarkable 17 digs from Elly McAvoy and 14 from Kovash, while senior libero Jersey Erie added 9 and Jahner notched 8. Jahner also had a pair of blocks and an ace in the match to add to her scoresheet.

The team had a field-day with a remarkable 62 digs and 29 kills, while limiting service-errors to only 8 and hitting errors to only 10 total.

"We've been here for a couple years in a row and we've never been able to get past the first round, so it's just a (message of) congratulations for taking it one step further," Sisson said. "Now, it's (time to) refocus. We can ride this high for maybe another hour ... because we have a job to do; it's one game at a time and one day at a time and once we step on the court tomorrow night, it's go-time."

For more information about Trinity High School's athletic programs, please visit

https://trinitycatholicschools.com/athletic-schedules

. For more information about prep volleyball in North Dakota, please visit

https://ndhsaanow.com/tournaments/volleyball

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