Lady Trojans sweep Bigfork

Down 11-3 in the opening game of a key District 7-B match against Bigfork on Friday night, the Troy High School volleyball team looked like it just might not find the groove in its final home appearance.

But then, senior Megan Cummings stepped up to the service line.

Cummings served four straight points and with consecutive kills by Jackie Pepiot, Alyssa Olds and Jordan Williams, the Trojans pulled back to within striking distance.

Troy eventually overtook the league leaders and won in a three-game sweep, 25-22, 26-24, 25-17.

“Right now, as a coach, you want your team to peak at this time of the year,” Troy High School coach Sandra Beal said. “We have six strong seniors and that adds something to the table.”

Playing at a heightened level on Senior Night, the Trojans took their first lead in the opening game at 21-20 with Williams serving. Kimmy Klin followed with back-to-back kills to get Troy to game point. After Bigfork got back to within 24-22, the Trojans won it when a Bigfork served sailed long.

“We’re playing a lot smarter,” Beal said. “We almost took Eureka and we beat Mission and tonight Bigfork. We’re figuring out that we can be that team (we want to be).”

The two schools also played a very close second game with the lead changing hands several times. Bigfork held a 19-16 lead at one point mainly behind Mallery Knoll’s kills. After exchanging points and trailing, 21-19, Troy put together a five-point run to reach game point.

Following a side-out, Klin served for four points. The most impressive point of the game occurred on point 23 with a long rally. Hannah Tallmadge had a key block to keep the rally alive and later, Williams got the kill. Tallmadge followed with a kill of her own for a 24-21 lead.

Bigfork fought back to 24-24 before Troy took the last two points – the first on a Bigfork net violation when Knoll would’ve had a kill and the second on a hit attempt into the net.

In the third game, Troy seemed to be in control the whole way. Bigfork never led but trailed just 9-7 in the early going. The Trojans then had another run sparked by three straight aces by Rachel Geuther.

Michaela Curry came up big in the late going with an ace block on point 20 and a kill on match point.

Troy finished with 29 kills on the evening – eight by Williams and seven by Klin. Curry had a pair of blocks and Olds had 17 set assists. Klin came up with 17 digs and three ace serves. Geuther also had three aces.

Troy (4-5 in District 7-B, 5-12 overall) was scheduled to play another key conference game on Thursday at Thompson Falls. The Lady Trojans next head to Class C Noxon on Friday.