Birthday sweep for Trotters

by Annie Wooden and Skye Hill

The Plains Trotters are rising through the ranks of District 7B volleyball.

Last week, the Trotters added another win to their record as they took down the Troy Trojans in three straight sets at home on September 26, 25-12, 25-10, 25-16.

Game night last Tuesday was the 18th birthday of senior Marissa Young, and the Plains player said the win was the best part of her day. "It felt so good," Young said following the game. "We've been working really hard in practice. We have so much potential and we're growing as a team." She added that the team has been working on communicating and being more aggressive.

To kick it off last Tuesday, Lexi Deming served six straight points before Troy got a sideout. Plains kept the lead, with Young smashing three straight aces to take the team to 20-10. Teagan Saner tipped down a block for the final point of the set.

The second set was much of the same for the Trotters, who took an early lead and didn't give the Trojans more than a five-point spread the entire set. Again the Plains serves were on point, with Claire Lakko firing three in a row over the net to take the team to 24-10 before Troy hit a serve long and Plains won 25-10.

The Trojans didn't give up and came out with more determination for an exciting third set. Plains went up 5-3 as Troy was putting up more of a fight and managed to tie the game at nine apiece. Plains got the serve back and the teams traded sideouts and intense volleys before Plains edged away and secured the win.

Young led the team against Troy with six aces and Deming served up four. Claire Lakko set the team up with 21 set assists. Blakely Lakko took those assists and spiked down seven kills, with Teagen Saner coming in hot behind her with six. Saner led Plains with 17 digs, Teirainy Bellinger had eight while Jaelyn Carr got a staggering six. Saner also held her own with seven blocks while Blakely Lakko got herself two.

EUREKA 3, PLAINS 0

The Trotters traveled to go face to face at the net with the Eureka Lions, falling in three sets 11-25, 16-25, 23-25.

Blakely Lakko served up two aces against the Lions, and Lexi Deming one. Teagen Saner held her own at the net earning her nine of the Trotters blocks, Aubrey Butcher also earned six, with Claire Lakko blocking three of her own. Deming grounded out 10 digs, while Claire Lakko and Jaelyn Carr had six each. Claire Lakko put in work setting up 15 of Plains' set assists. Saner hammered down four kills, with Deming and Blakely Lakko earning three each. The Trotters have all home games this week facing Mission on Tuesday and Superior on Thursday.