Triton Central volleyball coach Ray Basile knew his young squad would face many difficulties throughout the season. The goal was to learn to play the game at a high speed.

To capture the program’s third sectional title in the last four seasons, the Tigers would have to put on a stellar performance – and they did and still fell just short Saturday night at Scecina High School.

After securing an easy 25-8, 25-3, 25-12 win over Irvington Prep in the semifinal round, the Tigers stepped up for a rematch against Covenant Christian – a team that swept them 25-21, 25-6 on Aug. 21 at the Covenant Christian Invitational.

Triton Central got out to a fast start Saturday night winning set one and set three but the Warriors responded taking the last two sets for a hard-fought 20-25, 25-17, 24-26, 25-20, 15-10 victory.

With the win, Covenant Christian advanced into the Cascade Regional to take on Union County. The other regional semifinal pits South Putnam and Western Boone.

Triton Central will feel the loss of senior defensive specialist Julia Sanders, who finished with a team-high 36 digs in the championship match.

The remainder of the Tigers’ stat sheet was dominated by juniors and sophomores.

Maddy Brown, a junior, had a team-high 19 kills. Sophomore Brooklyn Bailey had 18 while juniors Hallie Schweitzer and Kaitlin Bramlett each had 10.

Schweitzer backed Sanders with 30 digs.

And sophomore setter Kate Isley recorded 56 assists in the five-set match.

Against Irvington Prep, Brown finished with a team-high 10 kills. Bramlett had eight.

Schweitzer collected seven serving aces.

Isley had 15 assists while senior setter Maia Harris collected 11 assists.

Covenant Christian defeated Scecina in the other semifinal match, 25-22, 25-20, 25-20. Abbey McCoy led Scecina (18-13) with 11 kills.