Trotters struggle on the road versus Eureka

In a pair of road losses, Plains fell to both Mission, on Thursday, and Eureka, on Saturday, in straight sets, to fall to a 1-2 conference mark.

“Mission played, I would say a flawless game,” said Trotter coach Kim Earhart. “They were flawless, they’re serves, their sets, their hits, they were just flawless.”

Versus Mission, the Trotters struggled falling 25-15, 25-15, and 25-16 for their first loss of the season. “We struggled. We gave a lot of points to them. That hurts,” said Earhart.

Earhart attributed much of his team’s struggle to their lack of offense.

“It’s an elementary thing,” he said. “You miss a serve, you serve it into the net, there’s no play they get a point, then they come right back and serve three or four at you, now they’ve got a five to nothing run.”

On Saturday, the Trotters fell to a District 7B Eureka team by scores of 25-13, 25-12, 25-17. The victory lifted Eureka to 3-1.

Despite the loss, Earhart was pleased with his team’s resilience, and competitiveness.

“They didn’t let down. They just kept playing, and playing, and playing, and playing,” said Earhart. “That’s a strength that I think comes from our juniors,” he said of a Plains team featuring one freshman, three sophomores and eight juniors.

Sophomore middle-hitter Laurel Danhoff stood out for Plains, recording eight kills and four blocks, and junior middle-hitter Kayla Revier pitched in with four blocks.

Selene Elster and Cassidy Morgan led Eureka’s offense with eight and six kills, respectively, while Alyssa White dished out 18 assists. 

Defensively, Brittney Shook had nine digs and Jac Lemer had eight.

The Trotters will have their chance to rebound next week as they face both Hotsprings on Thursday in a non-conference game.

Then they resume league-play versus Bigfork at home on Saturday.

“We’re working on all other angles to beef up our offense, and try to step up with a quicker block too,” said Earhart of his team’s preparation. “Hot Springs not a conference game, but yet it’s an important game to try to work out some for the kinks.”