The Triton College volleyball team and Elgin Community College went back and forth in a two and a half hour, five-set marathon Oct. 5 at the Jorndt Athletic Complex gymnasium. But in the end, it was visiting Spartans who pulled away early in the decisive set to take the match over the Trojans, 22-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-18, 10-15.
Both teams are two of the most improved programs in the region and gave the former Triton volleyball players in attendance on Alumni night a show in a statistically even match that had several long rallies.
However, in the final set Elgin (13-12) jumped out to a quick 7-3 advantage and the Trojans (11-8) could not recover. The Spartans ballooned the lead to 14-7, before Triton reeled off the next three points in a last-ditch comeback effort before one final Elgin kill concluded the match.
"This was a very winnable five-set match for us
," said assistant coach
Norman Kwong. "The most striking part of the numbers is that we were was actually the better attacking team for the match, but Elgin won the serve-and-pass battle and minimized errors."
Top performers for the Trojans were:
Ana Gonzalez: eight kills, .238 hitting percentage, 11 digs and two aces.
Kaya Podtburg: six kills, no errors, .400 hitting percentage and two blocks.
Ulyana Sydorchuk: 12 Kills, 45 attempts, a block and an assist.
Thea Tamondong: 18 assists, 14 digs and three aces.
Skyler DeSomer: eight kills, 10 assists, 21 digs, two aces and a block.
Triton will host UW-Whitewater at Rock County Thursday night (Oct. 8) at the Jorndt Athletic Complex gymnasium. Game time is 6 p.m.
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