Trevians keep perfect record intact with win over GBS

By: Luke Drase

New Trier continued their early season dominance, beating Glenbrook South in straight sets 25-18, 25-19.

The sixth ranked Trevians (according to MaxPreps) have not only started the season 11-0 overall and 2-0 in conference, but have also yet to drop a single set to any of their opponents.

“It feels amazing. We always look forward to starting out conference well and we came out confident.” said New Trier outside hitter Taite Ryan.

“We lost this game in our home gym last year so we came out with a lot of energy and we really wanted to win.”

Ryan was one of the key cogs for New Trier’s victory. She seamlessly transitioned from playing on the outside in the first set, to the right side in set number two, a testament to the Trevians depth.

Head coach of the Trevians Hannah Hsieh said: “Because we have have a lot of depth and a lot of girl that can play multiple positions all around, we have that luxury to be able to see what we look like. It was good to see that we can have other girls step in and perform too.”

In set one, it was errors from Glenbrook South that put them into an early hole. New Trier was not their usual dominant self but their blocking and defense did enough to keep GBS at bay.

As soon as New Trier took a six point lead at 16-10, they never let GBS get close and ended up comfortably winning the first set, 25-18.

Whatever was said in the GBS huddle during the interval seemed to wake up the Titans. GBS significantly cut down on their errors and ramped up their defense early in set two, to jump out to a 8-6 advantage.

But New Trier bounced back now long after, showing off their resilience and depth.

A Taite Ryan serving run, combined with two back row kills from outside hitter turned defensive specialist Grace Bozzo, sparked a seven point run to give the Trevians a 13-8 lead.

Despite New Trier ramping up the pressure, GBS did not go quietly into the night. The Titans crawled their way back into the match to tie the game at 17, mostly due to some timely digs from the back row, and big kills from middle hitter Kate Gregory.

That deadlock did not last for long though, as New Trier finished off the match in style. Known for their aggressive serving, New Trier finally put it on display, acing GBS three straight times to close out the match 25-19 much to the delight of coach Hsieh.

Hsieh said: “I think we served much more aggressively in the second set. That’s been a strength of ours all season but we weren’t as aggressive early on. We also started passing a little better, but we can always improve on that area.”

With a big tournament at Mother McAuley this weekend, the Trevians will have to rely on their depth even more to keep their perfect record intact.

As most of their starting are only juniors, New Trier’s trajectory will only continue to go upwards as they make their push for a CSL South title, and perhaps even a deep run in state.