The Trojans moved to 18-16 on the season with the win, and moved on to face a matchup with No. 5 Mount Vernon.

Head coach Mike Eckhardt marveled at how quickly Reyerson has picked up the game and improved. Reyerson entered regionals ranked second in 3A with 123 blocks.

“She didn’t start playing until two years ago,” Eckhardt said. “As a freshman, she wasn’t on varsity because she was learning the game. Last year she just went through the front row because she couldn’t pass. I told her, I said, ‘I’d like to have you pass, and you can hit the back row just as well.’ She’s taken to it.”

A fast start from the Trojans led to a convincing first set victory, 25-14. The second set began with a back-and-forth battle that never really let up, and it was the first sign that Williamsburg wanted to put a scare into West Marshall.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - West Marshall junior Katy Reyerson, left, tips the ball over the outstretched arms of Williamsburg’s Mia Brecht (5) during their Class 3A Region 5 quarterfinal volleyball match Monday night in State Center.

An up-and-down set from West Marshall resulted in the Raiders taking a 24-20 and sitting on the verge of tying up the match. With their backs against the wall, the Trojans responded.

Six straight points turned the set on its head and moved things in West Marshall’s favor, effectively killing Williamsburg’s momentum in the process.

Eckhardt applauded the team’s ability to turn key moments in their favor in the final two sets.

“We could have given up there in the second game, we were down quite a bit,” Eckhardt said. “Came back and got that one. Coming in I was a little worried, some of these people have not played in a regional before, we’re fairly young. I was very happy with how they played that. Third game, again they got it tight on us but we came back and finished it off. All in all, I think it was a good night.”

The third set followed the pattern of the second set, with Williamsburg taking a 16-13 lead and looking to have the momentum. But instead of maintaining momentum, the Raiders were hit with a 12-1 run by the Trojans, punctuated by a kill from Halie Hohnstein to cap off the win. Hohnstein led the team with 16 kills, while Reyerson added 10 and Lily Zahnd had seven. 34 of the team’s kills were assisted by Reilly Jensen.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

Defensively, four players had double-digit digs — Keatan Pfantz with 13, Hohnstein with 12, Ella Meyer with 11 and Reyerson with 10.

An elated Reyerson said the Trojans have built strong chemistry during the season.

“It’s really crazy,” Reyerson said. “We have an awesome team and we all have great chemistry and work together. It’s really fun.”

West Marshall’s trip to Mount Vernon will take place Wednesday at 7 p.m.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING