Lady Cavs claim five-set thriller in sectional final | Sports | thepilotnews.com

Culver's volleyball team and coaches pose with the sectional championship trophy.

CULVER - The highly anticipated match-up between small-school volleyball rivals Culver and Triton lived up to the hype when the pair met for the Class 1A Sectional 51 championship at John R. Nelson Gym Saturday night.

This latest meeting even needed extra points in the fifth set to determine the winner, but it was the Lady Cavaliers that came away with the thrilling 3-2 victory, the school’s first sectional title since 2011.

“I received lots of text messages from the 2011 team, people who have retired from Culver, who said it’s about time we get another picture up on the wall. It’s a nice feeling,” said Culver head coach Andrea Berndt.

Culver took an early two-set lead, saw Triton rally to take the next two sets, then held off a match point from the Big Blue Slam during a scintillating fifth-set before finally securing the victory.

“It’s always been a battle between Triton and us,” added Berndt. “There were some long rallies, some exhausting games. I’m glad it turned out in our favor. I’m proud of the girls.

The Lady Cavaliers jumped out to a 10-2 lead to take control of Set 1. Senior Brynn Berndt hammered seven kills in the opening set as Culver won, 25-16.

“That was huge and set the tone,” Coach Berndt said of the quick start. “Our seniors knew that if we were going to win, they would have to step up. Brynn has stepped up. We have found her and she is a nice offensive threat.”

Set 2 was much closer and 10-all was already the fifth tie. With three key plays by senior Tyra King (two kills, block with Meredith Gordon), Culver pulled ahead 20-14, but Triton managed to knot the score again at 24 thanks to four kills and back-to-back aces by Avery Viers. From there, Berndt pounded two kills as part of a 3-1 mini-run by the Lady Cavs to snag the second set. Berndt finished with five kills, while Viers had seven and Mya Davis four for Triton during that set.

“Set 2 was a little nerve-wracking, but we practice situational things - what happens when we are tied, what happens when we make mistakes,” continued Berndt. “Sets 1 and 2 we were offensively in system quite a bit. Sets 3 and 4 not so much. Triton was in system and not letting it go easy.”

Triton was not about to go down easily and took a 12-6 lead in Set 3. Culver regrouped though, and buoyed by three kills and an ace from King, the Lady Cavs used an 8-3 spurt to close the gap and eventually tied it at 21-all. It was also tied at 23 and 24 before Kenadee Howard and Viers hit consecutive kills to keep the Blue Slam in the match. Viers had a eight kills in the set on a variety of spikes, placements and dinks while Berndt had five more for Culver.

Viers scored five straight points for Triton by kill in the middle of Set 4, then later added four more during a 6-0 finish by the Blue Slam for the 25-14 win to send the match to a fifth set. Viers had 10 kills total for the set and Davis added another four and the momentum was now clearly in Triton’s favor.

Between the fourth and final set, Culver’s team actually retreated to its home locker room to try and regroup.

“We just said, we’re not coming back (into the locker room afterwards) as losers. We just left it at that,” said Brynn Berndt. “We have five seniors and we knew we had to get it done.”

“We said we are not coming back as sectional runner-ups,” added Coach Berndt. “The girls did some self-talking: I want the ball to come to me, it’s going to come to me, and I’m going to rely on the fundamentals that I’ve had during the season and I’m going to get it.”

The pep talk paid immediate dividends as Culver used an early 5-0 spurt to lead 6-3, but Triton scratched back and after a trio of kills each from Viers and later Davis, the Blue Slam had tied the set at 12-all. A Berndt block gave the Cavs a 13-12 lead, but then back-to-back kills from Davis and Viers gave Triton a match point at 14-13. A Blue Slam error though, followed by an ace from Ashley Pugh then gave Culver a match point at 15-14. A Viers kill saved Triton, but a double-hit call gave the Cavs another match point at 16-15 before a well-placed shot by Viers found the floor to knot the score once again. On the next live ball, a Triton kill went long, then Livi Overmyer made a kill to finally give the Lady Cavs the win.

“So many nerves and emotions,” added Brynn Berndt of the final set. “I thought we were going to lose at one point, but we trusted each other and our serve-receive has been on point so we recovered and won it. I thought we were going to win in three (sets). Five sets is tough to do, especially when you do 18-16 in the fifth.”

Berndt added four kills in the final set to finish with 25 for the match. King had three of her 14 then. Viers added six more kills to her whopping total of 32 (unofficially) for the match. Davis had four of her 17.

“Two very powerful hitters,” said Coach Berndt of Triton’s duo. “They want it so bad. Mya is going to play Division II volleyball. A great player, great athlete. Avery is one who is going to crank the line so we had to adjust.”

Culver will now play Marquette Catholic on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. for the regional championship. The match will be played at Culver Community HS.

• CULVER DEF. TRITON 25-16, 27-25, 24-26, 14-25, 18-16

Class 1A Sectional 51 championship

At Culver

Culver stat leaders:

Kills - Brynn Berndt 25, Tyra King 14, Livi Overmyer 6

Aces - Ashley Pugh 3, Ashlynn Berndt 2

Assists - Pugh 44

Digs - Livi Overmyer 28, A. Berndt 13, Pugh 12, B. Berndt 11, Gracie Milam 11

Triton stat leaders:

Kills - Avery Viers 32, Mya Davis 17

Aces - Viers 3, Davis 2, Clara Doll 2

Records: Culver 27-5, Triton 23-11 (final)

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