Triton negates Culver offense, advances to sectional semifinals

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

UNION MILLS — The Culver volleyball team trailed Triton 19-18 in the second set of their Class 1A, Sectional 51 quarterfinal at South Central Oct. 14.

They had lost the first set, but here was their chance to get back into the match. They were in the midst of a 9-3 run, and Triton coach Derek Eveland had just called timeout.

But Hosannah Chupp followed with a tip to get a sideout, and Avery Viers followed with five more points on her serve.

Triton had shut off Culver’s run, and they went on to win 25-19, 25-18, 25-20.

Ashlynn Berndt and Sophie Grossman-Norris had four kills each, and Chloe Lewis and Hayden Lute had three kills each for Culver, but they could not contain a Triton attack led by Viers and fellow senior Sierra Hawley. Viers led with 16 kills, and Hawley added 12.

Triton improved to 21-11. Culver finished 17-13.

“We focused a lot on Viers, and we focused a lot on Sierra,” Culver coach Andrea Berndt said. “We changed our rotation to line up and match up to them in a different way than what we’ve done in the season. So we just turned our rotation. But I also thought they played a little more offense out of the middle than what we were expecting, and we weren’t quite ready for some of that stuff to be out of the middle, but Sierra being a back row player that’s now playing in the front row for them, and she’s consistent. She’s very good at that. Viers is always, always going to be somebody that we’re looking to block and that we’re focusing on. I thought that we did an OK job with that, but we didn’t then turn some of that into offense for us. We had a hard time getting into our offense.”

The teams were playing for the third time. Triton won the Hoosier North meeting between the teams at Culver Sept. 4, but Culver won a best-of-three match at a tournament at the Trojan Trench Sept. 13.

Culver eliminated Triton in an epic five-setter in the sectional final last year, warding off a Lady Trojan match point to pull out the fifth set 18-16. Culver said goodbye to six seniors after that match, including current IU Kokomo player Brynn Berndt.

“Losing the seniors that we lost last year and coming from the season that we had, it was, of course, in our head of how do we rally back? How do we get back on top?” coach Berndt said. “And they had quite a few goals that we accomplished this year. As a team, I thought our two seniors led us very, very well. … I thought they did a good job of coming … from last year to this year and trying to keep that progress and that momentum going on our side. I thought they did a great job leading.”

Gracie Milam led Culver with 30 serves received, and Haylie Parker added 23. Parker had a team-high 19 digs, Milam had 18, and Grossman-Norris had 15.

Lute and Milam will graduate, leaving voids at middle hitter and libero, respectively.

“Hayden’s been a big factor for us this year, and late in the season, she has just been a huge force at the net for us,” coach Berndt said. “I thought she stepped back a little bit tonight. I think she was tired. I think the game was faster than what we normally play. And we tried to do some of that in practice. It just didn’t transition into a game.”

Triton jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the match, forcing coach Berndt to a quick timeout. A Lute kill, a Viers net violation, an Ashlynn Berndt kill off the block, a Chloe Lewis ace and a Triton net violation cut the margin to 7-5, but Triton stretched the lead out as Culver got only three more points on its serve the rest of the set.

Triton led 11-3 in the second set before Culver scored five unanswered points. Olivia Davis had back-to-back aces as part of the run. After the chair official blew an inadvertent whistle at 11-7 and had the teams replay a point, Lute delivered a kill to make it 11-8.

Trailing 16-9, coach Berndt called timeout, and Ashlynn Berndt responded with a stuff and a hammer, and a Lewis kill off a Triton overpass and a Lute service winner made it 17-14. Trailing 19-15, Grossman-Norris had a kill, Ashlynn Berndt had a service winner, and Chupp went long.

Eveland then called his final timeout.

The momentum extended into the third set as Triton built a 5-1 lead, and they still led 21-15 when Culver made one last four-point run. Milam set up Parker for a kill, and Lewis put down a tip off the block to make it 21-17, and Triton’s Clara Doll missed a kill try from the back row. A Lewis kill off the net cut the margin to 21-19.

Again, Eveland called timeout, and a Viers kill off the block and a Lute kill error into the gave Triton more breathing room.

Triton went on to beat Oregon-Davis 25-13, 25-10, 25-10 and North Judson 25-23, 25-16, 25-20 Saturday to win their first sectional title since 2021. They will play Fort Wayne Canterbury at Homestead Saturday in a regional.

Triton def. Culver, 25-19, 25-18, 25-20

CULVER STATS

Ashlynn Berndt – 4 kills, 8 serves received, 8 digs, 2 blocks; Chloe Lewis – 3 kills, 10 assists, 1 ace, 8 digs, 3 blocks; Hayden Lute – 3 kills, 1 ace, serve received, 2 digs, 1 block; Haylie Parker – 1 kill, 23 serves received, 19 digs; Olivia Davis – 1 kill, 3 aces, 1 serve received, 7 digs, 1 block; Sophie Grossman-Norris – 4 kills, 4 assists, 6 serves received, 15 digs; Gracie Milam – 1 assist, 30 serves received, 18 digs