NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT - STC sophomore Brylee Nelson sets up her teammates in an earlier match this season.  Nelson and the Trojans took down Vinton on September 30, 3-0.

The STC volleyball program honored six seniors and gained a critical WaMaC conference win on Tuesday, September 30. Facing the Vinton-Shellsburg Vikings, the Trojans dominated the first two games before squeaking out the final victory on their way to a 3-0 match win.

Coming off of a championship at their annual home STC Invite on September 27th, STC kept the momentum going early in the first game against the Vikings. The Trojans jumped out to an early 9-3 lead behind serving by sophomore Shelby Johannsen and a string of unforced Vinton errors. Maintaining a 5-7 point lead through the middle portion of the game, STC was able to pull away even further when sophomore Stella Zmolek served two aces to give the Trojans a 20-9 advantage. The game was put away when junior Paisley Bro and senior Rylee Ridout each scored two kills, giving STC a 25-12 victory.

In a slightly closer game #2, Zmolek gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead when she recorded another kill. Though STC never gave up the lead, Vinton would keep the game close early, including tying the score five different times. But STC would begin to build their lead in the middle of the game, when Bro recorded two kills to push the Trojan lead to 8-6. The Vikings would continue to keep the score within a few points until STC senior Madeline Paxton stepped to the service line. With the score 13-10, Paxton recorded one ace and served until the Trojans had built their lead to 19-10. After sophomore Sydney Arp recorded back-to-back aces of her own late in the game, STC gained their second victory of the night with an identical 25-12 win.

In a highly competitive final game, the teams battled back-and-forth early on with five different ties. The Vikings went on a run in the middle portion of the game and pushed their lead to 13-8. But STC battled back behind two aces by sophomore Maylee Rucker and the Trojans tied the score at 13-13. Vinton built their lead back up to 17-14 before Trojan sophomore Scout Ridout recorded back-to-back kills on the way to STC tying it again at 18-18. Though Vinton would take another slight lead, the Trojans pulled away to the close victory behind the serving of senior Naomi Peshel. Peshel served STC into a 22-22 tie, and Bro gave the Trojans the lead for good after recording a kill. STC pulled away to a hard-fought 25-22 victory and a clean 3-0 sweep on the night.

STC seniors honored during the night included: Betina Norheim, Kiera Shipley, Ella Kopsa, Peshel, Paxton, and Rylee Ridout.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT - STC sophomore Scout Ridout serves in an earlier match this the season.  Ridout helped lead the Trojans to a 3-0 victory over Vinton on senior night.

STC (17-15) will now turn their attention to the postseason, starting with the annual WaMaC conference tournament. It will be held on Thursday, October 16, at Solon high school.