Lady Trojans whip Bruton for Senior Night triumph

Lady Trojan Brianne Wayman watches as her block finds a soft spot in the Bruton defense.

Alan Chamberlain photo

With the entire roster garnering quality playing time, New Kent’s Lady Trojans cruised past Bruton’s visiting Panthers in straight sets (25-22, 25-11, 25-16) to cap a successful Senior Night celebration.

The Oct. 29 victory raised the Lady Trojans’ record to 15-7 during a season that head coach Cyndi Burnett said has exceeded her expectations.

“My goals tonight were to see that all [seven] seniors got to play and that my freshman [Kaitlyn Claytor] and [junior] Alyssa [Krause] got to play a lot,” she said.

Inserting reserves, however, had to wait a bit after Bruton caused problems in the opening set. New Kent owned a 17-7 lead following a Brianne Wayman kill and Gina Sledd ace, but the Panthers used their blocking ability to make matters interesting. The visitors twice closed within two, the final time at 24-22, before an errant Panther serve ended the set.

“We were hitting into taller players, and that’s a problem we’ve had all year,” said Burnett concerning Bruton’s blocking prowess.

But the Lady Trojans took control at the net in the next set behind two kills apiece from Daysa Jones, Katie Ilch, and Sydney Griffith and one each from Gina Sledd and Madison Beasley. Three service aces each delivered by Ilch and Olivia Foster also contributed to New Kent’s dominance.

Four Sledd aces coupled with kills from Skylar Cossaboon (2), Ilch (2), Griffith (2), Jones, Wayman, and Claytor highlighted the third set win. Cossaboon’s kill off a Sledd assist provided the final point.

Sledd finished with 15 assists and six aces. Ilch totaled five kills and five aces while Jones had four kills. Cossaboon led in digs with nine followed by Foster with seven. Ilch and Wayman managed two blocks apiece.