Homeless Trinity drops tough one at Central

MANCHESTER, NH – After relinquishing an early two-set lead, the Manchester Central High School girls’ volleyball team appeared poised to drop the fifth set of its Monday night match against cross-city rival Trinity.

With his team down, 10-6 in that final game, longtime Central head coach Ed True called a timeout. His players responded accordingly, composed themselves and proceeded to take 9 of the final 10 points to win their fourth match of the season.

The Little Green won the first two sets Monday, 25-13 and 25-18, respectively, before the Pioneers flipped the score in the third game with a 25-18 win of their own. They then held off a late Central push in the fourth game to take a 25-21 victory, but Little Green’s late momentum in the fifth game propelled them to 15-11 triumph to take the match 3-2.

“It’s tough when you go up like that to let it slip, but volleyball is a game of momentum,” said True. “You know, in that third game, they came out looking a lot better. We were missing our serves in the beginning and they kind of took that momentum, and then that (last) game was close and we were lucky enough to come out on top.”

“We came out slow, and that truly showed in the first two sets and then we were down by like 10 or 15 at one point and then suddenly turned it on,” said Trinity head coach Tyler Breckinridge, “so that just tells me that we had it today, we just couldn’t (finish it off), and that happens, especially at this level.”

Trinity, a team without a home court this season due to water damage in its gymnasium, now looks to turn the page on Monday’s setback and finish the regular season strong.

“It’s been hard being displaced this season, especially where we didn’t have a home gym due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, so that definitely makes it harder with all the traveling, having to get there and that definitely takes its toll and affects the team without the benefit of a home crowd,” said Breckinridge. “I’ve got to give it to these girls because that is a tough, tough season when you’ve got to play 13 games in a row on the road. And at the end of the day, the wins and losses still count, but it’s all about making sure these girls are the best versions of themselves both on and off the court and if we do that, that’s a win for the season in my book.”

Now 5-8 on their 2023 campaign, the Pioneers travel to Hillsboro-Deering for a 5:30 p.m. content Thursday and then return to Manchester Friday where they’ll host their first match of the season, and look for revenge against Central, at 6:15 p.m. at Derryfield School. The contest will also serve as the team’s Senior night.

“I hope people will come out and support us on the 13th because I’d love to send these seniors off with a huge crowd they haven’t been able to see for 13 games so far,” said Breckinridge.

Among the seniors being celebrated, captains Madi Garica, Adriana Leonard and Izzy Ali.

“They bring chemistry they’ve built up over their years here together and they’ve really been able to help the new girls come in and see this is an unusual season and be able to say, ‘hey, it gets better from here, and this is what you can expect in regular years because this really is an abnormal season for Trinity,'” said Breckinridge.

A trip to Moultonborough – which knocked the Pioneers out of the playoffs last season – follows next Monday, the 16th, and then Trinity gets one more technical home match when they host Newfound at Derryfield at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, the 18th, before finishing the regular season on the road at Mascenic the next night.

“The goal is to go back, practice tomorrow, fix the mistakes and see what we can do,” said Breckinridge. “Hopefully, we’ll make the playoffs and see what we can do.”

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