Ava Simpson set a ball high in the air at the net as one of her teammates came in and spiked it down for a kill and a Trenton point. Simpson would recreate the same scene 25 more times Monday night as the Trenton High School volleyball team picked up a 25-15, 25-19, 25-14 victory over visiting Brookfield.
With the 26 assists on the night, Simpson shattered the school record for assists in a single match, which she already had with 14, set in a four-set loss to Plattsburg last year.
“Ava has had to take on a big challenge, after Abby Simpson went out with a knee injury earlier this season,” Trenton coach Brad Ewald said. “We now run a 5-1, meaning that Ava has to set from everywhere on the floor. She has shown great hustle and diligence in constantly bettering the ball for our hitters to attack.”
Ally Yoder and Lilly Berti were the primary targets for Simpson as Yoder finished the night with 10 kills and Berti added nine. Yoder also had eight assists on a strong night at the service line and Berti tallied two aces. Trenton also got five kills, four aces and five digs from Makenzee Epperson.
“Altogether tonight was a pretty good performance,” Ewald said. “Brookfield passed and dug the ball fairly well, which forced us to find ways to score on the attack without making too many errors. That’s been a road bump we have been trying to overcome lately. Tonight was a good step in the right direction.”
Trenton netted 33 kills on 97 attacks as a team in the win.
“There are still improvements to be made, but this was a good step for us,” Ewald said. “Hopefully it will fire us up to approach with a little more explosiveness.”
vs. EAST BUCHANAN
Trenton’s momentum dissappeared the following night, however, as Trenton fell to East Buchanan 25-12, 25-13, 25-7 on the road in Gower.
“The score doesn’t quite show the improvement that was made in this game,” Ewald said. “While we still struggled with errors in several areas, East Buchanan is a team that will really put the pressure on you if you give them free balls and tips. So, it’s important to get that strong point early in the rally, and I think we made steps in the right direction with that. We had four players with kills totaling for 12 on the night. We wouldn’t have made those kills three weeks ago.”
Epperson had five kills in the loss and Allison Yoder added four kills and two aces. Trenton also got 11 assists from Simpson and eight digs from Katie Markell.
With the 1-1 showing to start the week, Trenton moved to 4-10 overall on the season.
UP NEXT
Trenton was on the road in Bethany on Thursday, taking on South Harrison. The Bulldogs will be at the Carrollton Quad, which they have won each of the last two years, on Saturday.