Titans beat Bearcats after rocky start

• Katelyn Grinsteinner

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson Trinity junior Katelyn Grinsteinner, right, watches her attack sail over the net against Hebron-Glen Ullin senior Alyssa Wehri on Tuesday at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

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The match started out as a negative, but the end result was a positive for the Dickinson Trinity volleyball team.

A first-set loss didn’t deter the Titans from victory, rattling off three consecutive set wins to defeat Hebron-Glen Ullin 15-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-9 on Tuesday at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

“We played a very inconsistent game,” Trinity head coach Rayma Braaten said. “I’m glad that we could come out with win and we ended up picking it up.”

The Bearcats jumped out to a 15-7 lead before Trinity started battling. .

The Titans cut the deficit to within four, 18-14, but HGU used a 6-0 run to breakaway for good. Sabrina Horst had one of five aces to get the first set to match point, 24-14, and ultimately won on an attack error by the Titans.

“We came out ready to go and I think the ladies worked hard,” HGU head coach Maria Stockert said. “It just didn’t all come together for us.”

The Titans shook off the early frustration in the team huddle and senior Alyson Schieno, who had a team-high 19 kills, said it was a different on the court.

“It wasn’t our team, but I think we got it through our heads and we stepped up and came out with a win,” said Schieno, who added four aces and seven digs.

Trinity used a strong 11-4 lead to breeze through the second set — or so it thought. The Titans led 19-10 before the Bearcats started to make a comeback.

HGU slowly chipped away to get within two, 22-20. The Titans took a needed timeout to refocus and regroup. The timeout served Trinity well and it finished out the set with a Schieno kill.

“We still didn’t play our best game,” Braaten said. “We played OK.”

The Titans didn’t waste much time in the third and fourth sets, using a multitude of players to score needed points.

Junior Gretchen Weir had seven kills and three blocks and junior Katelyn Grinsteinner added five kills, three aces and one block. Sophomore Katie Dockter supplied 26 assists and five aces.

“I will give some of the girls some confidence that they can come and do the job when we need them,” Braaten said.

GUH struggled in the third and fourth sets after communication breakdowns. Horst led the team with five kills. Taya Bandle added four kills.

“I think the communication broke down, they stopped moving, but overall I think they came back together and gave it their best shot,” Stockert said.

GUH 25 21 16 9 — 1

Trinity 15 25 25 25 — 3

Kills: GUH, Sabrina Horst 5, Taya Bandle 4, Kari Gerving 2. T, Alyson Schieno 19, Gretchen Weir 7, Katelyn Grinsteinner 5, Jillian Stockert 3, Allison Steffan 3.

Blocks: GUH, Bandle 1. T, Weir 3, Grinsteinner 1, Schieno 1.

Aces: GUH, Horst 5, MaKenzie Glass 2, Gerving 1. T, Katelyn Dockter 5, Schieno 4, Grinsteinner 3.

Digs: GUH, Teasha Voegele 6, Glass 5, Gerving 3. T, Stockert 12, Molly Schweitzer 9, Weir 7, Grinsteinner 6, Dockter 6, Britney Schneider 6.

Assists: GUH, Alyssa Wehri 5, Gerving 4. T, Dockter 26.

Tags: trinity titans, glen ullin-hebron bearcats, sports, volleyball, preps