Trinity Lutheran High School’s volleyball team pounded their way to victory Tuesday evening against Waldron at the Bollinger Athletic Complex.
The Cougars defeated the Mohawks in three sets, 25-9, 25-6, 25-11, powered behind a strong offensive performance.
The Cougars (3-1) were led by freshman Paige Lawrence, as she was 16-for-16 on serves with five aces and 13 points.
Savannah Harweger and Hannah Sabotin followed with 11 points each. Abby Schult led the team with four blocks.
The first set started fairly balanced with the Cougars leading 6-4. That’s when Sabotin lead the team on a 5-0 run to give the Cougars a 12-4 lead.
The Mohawks were able to stabilize their offense and bring their deficit to 13-9.
Kamzi Gross then took over serving and closed out the set with 11 straight points to give the Cougars the 25-9 first-set win.
That effort was part of a surge of strength in the team’s serving, Cougars coach Faith Wilder-Newland said.
“We served aggressively and I think we’re serving better than we were earlier in the season,” she said.
The second set featured an even more dominant offensive performance for the Cougars as they stormed to a 25-6 set win.
Wilder-Newland said the team’s success was fueled in part by the team’s ability to create plays together.
“I thought we executed pretty well and thought our hitters connected well with our setters,” she said. “In transition we ran some pretty quick plays and did well transitioning off plays from our defense.”
That was powered by a 12-point run to close the set by Lawrence. Sydney Jaynes led the Cougars on a five-point run and Sabotin led the team on a 4-0.
The Mohawks were unable to establish an offensive rhythm as they only scored three of their six points on serves.
The third set was led by a six-point run by Harweger and runs by Sabotin and Elly Carter. The Mohawks showed a little spark of offense toward the end of the set when they went on a four-point run, but it was too late and the Cougars captured the set 25-11.
Wilder-Newland said the lopsided victory is one that was welcomed as it builds confidence. She said there are also times when the shoe is on the other foot.
“It’s nice to have that once in awhile, but we also need games like Providence — that spanked us — to realize what we have to work on,” she said. “These are nice for confidence builders and getting everybody in.”
Wilder-Newland said she feels the Cougars have improved offensively and with serve receiving and offensive serving. The group is also one that is willing to listen and work together.
“I like how they work and I think they’re very coachable,” she said. “We’re just trying to keep getting better.”
The Cougars will travel to Franklin Community High School on Thursday.