For The Tribune

Trinity Lutheran’s volleyball team put together a strong performance from start to finish, defeating Borden 25-8, 25-10, 25-12 Monday night at the Bollinger Athletic Complex.

The Cougars prevented Borden from putting together any long rallies and gave up three straight points in the first set, back-to-back points once in the second set, and did not allow the Braves to score back-to-back points in the third set.

“I was very proud of my girls,” Cougars coach Chelsea Stroub said. “We came out here strong. We worked on a lot of things, and played together well as a team.”

Stroud said she felt like the Cougars defeated a good team, as Borden is annually one of the top teams in the Southern Athletic Conference.

The Cougars opened a 6-0 lead in the first set, then increased its margin to 14-3 on an ace serve by Anne Franke, then built the margin to 18-4 on an attack by Hailley Peters before Borden came up with a mild rally of three straight points.

The Cougars then finished the set on a 7-1 run as Hayley Carter served an ace for the final point.

The Braves scored the first point in the second set before Trinity moved on top 6-1 and led 14-6 on another ace by Whitney Rogers.

The Cougars finished with a 10-2 run and scored set point on a Borden passing error.

Trinity had a 9-5 lead in the third set before Lexi Schneider scored a point on a tip, and Taylor Reynolds followed with an ace for a 12-5 cushion.

The Cougars dominated play at the net right to the end as Reynolds had a block and an attack, and Peters had two attacks before Trinity scored match point on a Braves passing error.

The Cougars had 31 attack kills, with Peters and Abby Hackman scoring six each and Franke had five.

Stroub said she liked the way her team played at the net.

“I think we’re getting better every game,” she said. “I feel like if we’re doing well at the net our whole, entire game comes together well,” she said.

The Cougars served 12 aces with Franke serving three, while Haylee Barker and Courtney Barker had two each.

The team was 67 of 74 with 12 aces serving.

The Cougars take a record of 8-6 into Thursday’s home match against Indianapolis Lutheran.

Stroud won’t have any trouble getting her team up for that match as they consider Indy Lutheran one of their top rivals.

“That will be a big game for us,” she said. “We’re just working on staying together as a team and having a faster offense.”

Indianapolis Lutheran was ranked No. 4 and Trinity Lutheran No. 9 in the Class 1A poll that was released Monday.