Cowboys fight, but can’t slow down Titans

• Gretchen Weir and Katelyn Grinsteinner

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Dickinson Trinity juniors Gretchen Weir, left, and Katelyn Grinsteinner, back, fight Killdeer junior Brittney Berg at the net for the volleyball on Tuesday during a District 14 match at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

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Killdeer did everything it could to push Dickinson Trinity around.

It was never enough.

Dickinson Trinity fed off Alyson Schieno’s 17 kills and used its considerable depth to fend off the Cowboys 25-17, 27-25, 25-19 on Tuesday in a District 14 volleyball match at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

“They caught up to us a little bit there,” Trinity senior Aly Kovash said. “We realized, when they catch up to us, we need to fight back. I’m really proud of the way we stepped up and came back.”

The Titans (13-13, 2-2 District 14) appeared as if they would breeze to a win after building a 16-7 lead in the first set.

But Killdeer wouldn’t give up. Even after three consecutive Katelyn Grinsteinner aces put Trinity ahead 20-11. The Cowboys trimmed the Titans’ lead to six before Gretchen Weir’s kill ended the set.

The Cowboys looked to use the momentum gained from their late first-set push as they scored the first four points of the second set and established a 12-7 lead.

Trinity responded with 10 consecutive points, including a pair of kills by both Schieno and Katelyn Dockter. Jillian Stockert added a kill and two aces.

“I really love that about our team,” said Kovash, who had a pair of aces and a kill. “Everybody has their strengths. We all have something we can contribute.”

Killdeer wouldn’t back down though. It rallied from a 17-12 deficit, cutting Trinity’s lead to 21-19 and tying it at 24 on a kill by 6-foot-3 sophomore Alyss Kovash, who had seven kills.

Kelsey Knutson, who had four kills and a block, was instrument in the comeback as well.

But, three straight errors spelled doom for Killdeer and gave the Titans a 2-0 set lead and the momentum.

“I think the momentum would have been there,” Killdeer head coach Megan Nelson said. “We didn’t get in their heads at all. We need to be louder. We don’t have that push that the other teams have that we play. But we have just as much skill, I believe.”

The Cowboys have lost all four of the District 14 matches they’ve played this season.

Killdeer rallied a couple of times in the third set and led 7-6 before Trinity took control. The Cowboys closed the gap closer than one point, 16-15, after a pair of aces by junior Brittney Berg — she finished with four — but gave up six consecutive points to the Titans after that.

All of Trinity’s points in that late run came on either Killdeer miscues or Aly Kovash’s two aces.

“We depended on our consistent game,” Trinity head coach Rayma Braaten said. “I think, overall, they came up consistent when we needed them to.”

Killdeer 17 25 19 — 0

Trinity 25 27 25 — 3

Kills: K, Alyss Kovash 7, Kelsey Knutson 4, Hannah Balderas 3. T, Alyson Schieno 17, Gretchen Weir 5, Katelyn Grinsteinner 4, Kennedy Keator 4, Allison Steffan 2, Jillian Stockert 1, Katelyn Dockter 1, Aly Kovash 1.

Blocks: K, Knutson 1. T, Dockter 1.

Aces: K, Brittney Berg 4, Jane Dukart 1, Kovash 1. T, Stockert 3, Grinsteinner 3, Dockter 2, Kovash 2, Keator 1, Schieno 1, Ashley Kerkman 1.

Digs: K, Dukart 2, Jocelyn Walker 1, Knutson 1. T, Stockert 15, Schieno 11, Rummel 8, Kovash 7, Grinsteinner 5, Dockter 5, Britney Schneider 4.

Assists: K, Berg 4. T, Dockter 25, Rummel 1.

Tags: high school volleyball, trinity titans, sports, volleyball