Triton Central's postseason run ends with first Final Four appearance

BEDFORD – Finally at full strength, Triton Central volleyball stunned Eastern (Pekin). Even at full strength, the Tigers did not have enough to slow down a highly-motivated Barr-Reeve squad.

Triton Central defeated Eastern, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-20 in the second semifinal Saturday afternoon at the Class 2A semistate tournament held on Damon Bailey Court at Bedford North Lawrence High School.

The Musketeers had not lost a set in its previous 13 matches and continued that trend against Triton Central, who had two key players out of its rotation. Senior Audrey Darlage and sophomore Alaina Darlage missed practices early in the week due to a planned family trip.

The Darlage sisters, a setter and libero, returned to practice later in the week and head coach Lyndsey Skipton opted to hold them out of the starting rotation in set one Saturday for the missed practice time.

With freshman Maecy Cord in as the libero and senior Maryrose Felling handling all of the setting duties, Triton Central still built a 21-18 advantage. But the Musketeers followed a timeout with a 7-2 run for a set one win.

Triton Central fell behind early in set two but rallied to tie the match at 7-all and never trailed again. With its rotation back in order, the Tigers went on a 10-3 run to deal the Musketeers (30-6) a rare setback.

“I think that was a true testament of what we were capable of doing,” said Skipton, in her first season as head coach at Triton Central. “That first set, we didn’t have them, and it did kind of show a little bit. I thought the girls stepped up and played great. Maecy Cord played libero in that first set and did an awesome job.

“Alaina (Darlage) is a libero who can read (players) really well, and she is the core of our serve receive, and we really needed that. Once we were able to get it back together, we knew who we were and what we could do.”

Lucy May and Gwyn Williams combined for 10 kills and Audrey Darlage had two aces to elevate the energy level.

The Tigers built a 7-1 lead in set three as Eastern started feeling the match slipping away. A serving error at set point put Triton Central up 2-1.

Eastern managed two early leads in set four as Avery Smith, who tallied more than 500 kills this season, got back involved in the offense.

Savanna Plew delivered back-to-back serving aces to give Triton Central a 10-8 lead it never relinquished. The junior returned to the service line late in the set and had two more aces that made it 22-20 and 24-20.

Plew’s final serve was received, passed too close to the net and the referee’s whistle blew to bring an end to Eastern’s win streak and vaulting Triton Central into the Class 2A Final Four.

“It says a lot for our schedule in that we play some bigger schools in the Indianapolis area that challenge us, and we do lose a set and still figure out a way to win,” said Skipton. “I think that is huge in (Class) 2A now that I’ve coached at 4A (at Shelbyville and Southport) and now 2A.

“Not losing a set since September is a great accomplishment (for Eastern), but I think it can create that false sense of what you are really capable of. Sometimes when you have to fight for things a little bit more, it just makes it easier to handle the pressure.”

Barr-Reeve, the top-ranked team in Class 2A, dispatched of Greencastle, 25-22, 25-11, 25-20 in the morning semifinal Saturday.

The Vikings were defeated in the semistate championship game in 2024 and had no intention of dealing with that feeling once again.

Triton Central needed a strong start to upend one of the state’s top small school programs that limited its losses this season to Class 4A programs like Center Grove, Castle and Cathedral.

Barr-Reeve’s size and power at the net was impressive and the Tigers struggled to keep pace. The Vikings built a 5-1 lead that grew to 10-3 on a second consecutive kill by Lanie Graber and 17-5 with Graber’s sixth kill of the set.

Mariana Van Der Aa ended the opener with another emphatic kill.

Triton Central was more competitive in the second set, three times cutting the Vikings’ advantage to four points, but could never get closer.

Addison Jones, who has more than 1,000 career kills and digs, had an ace, a kill and two blocks in the second set to get Barr-Reeve to a 2-0 lead. Graber added three more kills to push her total to 10 in the match.

The Tigers took their only lead of the match at 2-1in the third set before the Vikings put together an 11-3 run. Jones and Van Der Aa each had four kills in the third set to finish off a 25-9, 25-18, 25-16 victory.

Triton Central finished the season 25-9.

Barr-Reeve (32-5) will face No. 3 Benton Central (27-5) Saturday in the Class 2A state championship match at 1:30 p.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

The Vikings, who have won four state titles, will be making their seventh state championship game appearance.

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