ABOVE: Martin County West’s Brynlee Haukoos skies above the net to attempt a spike against GHEC/T/ML’s Keira Benck and Ava Donohue on Tuesday night in the Trimont gymnasium.

TRIMONT – It was a night to remember for the Martin County West High School volleyball team on Tuesday night in the Trimont gymnasium.

Seniors Courtney Anderson, Emily Schettler, and Addy Wohlhuter got recognized for their efforts to the program, Schettler earned her 1,000th career set assist of her career midway through the match, and the Mavericks picked up a three set victory over the Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther Jaguars, 25-11, 25-14, 25-15, moving to 7-5 on the season.

MCW’s Maddie Carlson had 19 kills to go along with 11 digs. Giana Chase had nine kills of her own. Schettler ended her career night with 34 set assists and 10 digs.

For the Jaguars, Keira Benck ended the contest with a team leading 12 set assists, Londyn Bowers had 12 kills, and Addison Nowicki produced 14 digs, respectively.

“It was amazing,” MCW head coach Kayla Zehms said following the victory. “It was amazing to see everyone come out, everybody watched a great game, and everybody played really well.”

The first set of the night was a sign of what was to come for the rest of the match, an aggressive offensive attack from the MCW outside hitters that ultimately put pressure on the Jaguars defensive front.

MCW jumped to an immediate 5-0 cushion after three kills from Carlson pierced past the outstretched hands of the GHEC/T/ML middle hitters. Despite rattling back two points of their own with blocks from Ava Donohue and Benck, the Mavericks stretched the lead to 17-3 to ultimately take control of the first set.

The Jaguars cut into the lead with a handful of spikes from outside hitter Bowers, melting the score to 22-11 after a run of their own. But following a kill from Brynlee Haukoos, Jaylee Hanson calmly put together back-to-back aces to finish off the set for MCW.

“We always talk about putting the ball in during warm ups, then just amp up, so that when gametime is ready, you are ready to roll,” Zehms said.

Set two started in competitive fashion, as both teams had an urgency for demonstrating their offensive abilities.

GHEC/T/ML started showing the dynamic power early into the set, evening up the score at eight apiece with a handful of kills from Bowers and Benck.

But again, it was the Mavericks using the home crowd momentum to go on another commanding run.

Beginning with a kill from Hanson, MCW scored 13 of the next 15 points to take a 21-10 lead. Fueling the rally was Haukoos, Hanson, Carlson, Chase, who all recorded at least one kill during this stretch.

Although the Jaguars picked up a handful of points off kills by Bowers, the Mavericks finished off the second set with an authoritative spike from Haukoos.

As a match victory was in the headlights of MCW players, the Mavericks stormed to another commanding lead in the third set of the night, again taking a 5-point lead to put GHEC/T/ML on their heels.

But after kills from Nowicki and Bowers, the Jaguars once again found themselves knotted up with MCW at eight points apiece.

ABOVE: Kayla Mattson, Addison Nowicki, Keira Benck, and Layla Johnson gather together during set three against Martin County West on Tuesday night in the Trimont gymnasium.

However, Zehms’ unit had the response yet again.

Leading off the rally with a block from Hanson and a kill from Haukoos, the Mavericks took a quick 15-9 advantage.

Kills from Nowicki and Donohue gave the Jaguars some life with a quick 3-point swing, but it was MCW who eliminated any possibility of a comeback. The junior tandem of Chase and Carlson rattled off five total kills during a dominant 7-point burst from the Mavericks, extending the lead to 22-12 and putting the match in jeopardy.

“They [Maddie Carlson and Giana Chase] played a great game, if they can be doing that, that’s pretty awesome,” Zehms said.

Chase finished things off by scoring the team’s final 2 points via block and kill, capping off a senior night Maverick volleyball fans will never forget.

Zehms’ team finished the night outscoring GHEC/T/ML 75-40, holding their opponent to under 15 points in each set.

MCW was able to use sound defense to partially neutralize the Jaguars weapons throughout the night, with dynamic hitters such as Bowers, Nowicki, and Benck all leading the team in kills this season.

“We just are working together and talking,” Zehms said. “It’s a lot of communication and talking about everything that’s going on, and they do a great job of that.”

MCW continues their season this Thursday with a match against the Fairmont Cardinals in the Fairmont High School gymnasium beginning at 7 p.m. GHEC/T/ML (4-5) will look to get back into the win column with a Thursday night contest against Alden-Conger at Martin Luther High School starting at 7 p.m.

“It wasn’t going right tonight for us at all,” GHEC/T/ML head coach TJ Williams said. “Like I told the girls, everyone that plays volleyball has an off night, it just sucks that all of it came together and everything was off for them. But we just have to look forward and forget about this game.”