Triway volleyball serves up PAC title three-peat

The Triway volleyball team has been dealing aces this fall.

Whether they’ve used power, placement or a combination, the Titans’ serving has stood out as they three-peated as champions in the Principals Athletic Conference and advanced to a Division V district final appearance.

“These kids have really good skills,” said coach Jacki Zody, who’s in her second year of a return to lead Triway and 13th overall coaching the program. “They're great servers. Every kid I have clear down the bench is a great server. And, they just have really great skills. Last year, we were a little bit inexperienced, and they've really grown a lot as a team.”

Powerful kills in volleyball excite a crowd like a slam dunk in basketball or a long home run in baseball, but consistently well-placed serves go a long way toward controlling matches.

Triway, which improved to 18-6 after defeating Garfield in a five-set battle at Burton Berkshire in Div. V district semifinal match Oct. 21, has seven players with 17 or more aces.

Junior Mia Mariola leads the way with 60 aces, followed by classmate Taylor Mathis (53), and seniors Lauren Fishburn (51), Reagan Underwood (44) and Tori Manley (26), junior Alexa Haddad (18) and senior Payton Snyder (17).

Mariola, Mathis and Underwood have all topped 170 service points.

The balance extends to the rest of the Titans’ game plan as well.

“I have nine seniors, four juniors and a freshman, and then I've dressed a sophomore,” Zody said. “We're carrying 15 on the roster for the tournament.

“We've played a good nonleague schedule, with teams like Waynedale, Smithville, Doylestown, Hillsdale and Norwayne. Some games went well, some didn't, but we still had good competition. I feel like we've grown a lot. They've certainly bought in what (assistant coach) Bri (Indorf) and I are trying to do, and it's starting to pay off this year.”

Mathis is closing in on 2,000 career assists as a junior, which Zody said “is pretty incredible.”

Underwood recorded career dig No. 1,000 recently.

Senior Audrey Walton (157 kills, team-high 56 blocks) has shined at middle hitter, 6-foot freshman outside hitter Pyper Hamilton (team-high 287 kills) has a great future ahead of her, Mariola (228 kills, 284 digs) is a versatile player and Fishburn (team-high 344 serve receptions) has been outstanding on defense.

Mathis has directed the offense with 773 assists, while Underwood has a team-high 375 digs.

“On any given night, any of those kids can have a big night,” Zody said. “We're really balanced, and Taylor has done a fantastic job moving that ball around. We don't always have a hitter with big individual numbers because we now have six attackers with Taylor being considered one, also.”

SOCCER

The Triway boys soccer team has a 9-8-1 record and placed fifth in the PAC at 4-7-1. Aiden Snell, Austin Nehtenz, Kaven Johnson and Nolan Strong had goals in an opening-round tournament win.

The Titans girls soccer team went 8-6-3 (6-3-3), finishing third in the PAC.

Senior Kylee Strong leads the Triway girls with 38 points (17 goals, four assists). Sophomore Addi Gentry has 108 saves and 15 goals against in 11 games.

CROSS COUNTRY

The Triway boys cross country team excelled at the Div. III Lorain District and qualified for regionals, while girls Loretta Johnson, Lucy Acker and Martha Johnson were individual qualifiers.

Brady Speicher and Kaden Hilton earned second-team All-PAC honors for the boys team, while Loretta Johnson was a second-teamer for the girls.