Tri-County gets swept at home

The Lady Trojans hadn’t been on the court for a competitive match in over two weeks, but they ended their hiatus when they hosted North Mahaska on September 4. They ended up losing in three sets but kept it close throughout.

“I wanted to see our girls play with some better communication and just improve overall,” Lady Trojans coach Curtis Fisher said. “With such a young team we need to learn how to play as one. With younger girls, it’s getting them into the right position and talking more.”

TC 18 - NM 25

Tri-County fought from behind for most of the match but was right behind the Lady Warhawks if they could made a solid run. The Lady Trojans fell behind early in the first set but countered with a string of points to get them within three. North Mahaska then went on a run after stopping Tri-County, which led the score to be 7-14, leading to a timeout from Tri-County. A late rally by the Lady Trojans didn’t prove to be enough as North Mahaska took a set lead with a 25-18 win. When things worked well for Tri-County the defense was stopping the North Mahaska front and winning points at the net.

“When things were going right, our ball movement was working, and our passes were going to the right spots,” Fisher said. “We fell behind after NM came out swinging, may have been intimated a little bit, but we just kept going and staying in it.”

TC 15 – NM 25

Like the first set, Tri-County kept the score close early but then North Mahaska put together a run to pull away. Another timeout was called by Tri-County when they fell behind 5-13, hoping to stem the Lady Warhawks attack and get back into the set. Some missed attacks led to NM points as they pulled away late to open their lead up more. A quick few points went to TC, but NM would finish out the set with a couple attacks to take the second 25-15.

“We really settled in the first couple sets,” Fisher said. “We played better and a lot of that came down to their confidence.”

TC 6 – NM 25

Conditioning became more of a factor for the Lady Trojans in the third set. Without having much of a bench, most of the starting five had to play most of the minutes throughout the match. Some early mistakes kept NM serving as they put Tri-County in a 4-14 hole. At that point, the deficit was too much to come back from and the attackers from North Mahaska, along with some spotted serves, led to a convincing 25-6 win for the visitors.

“These girls are having to play every point and every set, that wears on them, especially with not having played much yet,” Fisher said. “By the time Districts rolls around we’ll be a lot better and crisper on the court.”

Tri-County racked up a plethora of digs throughout the match, 90 to be exact, with Reace Thomas and Emma Miover leading the way with 23 digs apiece. Breanna Fogle had 20 digs, and Mariah Little added on 12 more. Miranda Little led the team with three assists and had one ace. Mariah and Fogle combined for five blocks for the Lady Trojans.

Tri-County traveled to face Sigourney on September 10 for their next match. They will host a rematch with English Valleys at home on September 13.