It was another 9:00 A.M. match on Friday for the Cambridge Trojans, and it was the same result. A win. Cambridge, the #1 team in Class D2 played the #5 seed Wynot in the semi-finals from Pinnacle Bank Arena and won in four sets, moving on to the Class D2 State Championship match. The set scores were 25-17, 25-20, 15-25, and 25-21.
In the first set, Cambridge looked completely locked in after a few points. Initially, they had a few service errors, but cleaned that up quickly. The Trojans and the Blue Devils were tied up at 6-6. But then, Cambridge got tough on defense and their attack game was on point and didn't allow an inch for Wynot and went up 16-12 before a timeout was called. The timeout did not slow down the Trojans as they went up 20-14 and then went on another mini 5-3 run to close the set at 25-17.
In set two, the Trojans kept it rolling. The Trojans were up 3-2 and then applied immense pressure at the net, thwarting away multiple attacks from the Blue Devils Wynot was forced to take a timeout at 9-3.
Wynot did come out of the timeout refocused, and went on a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to 9-6. Cambridge was able to keep them at bay for a little bit, but, Wynot got within one and the score was 16-15 when the Trojans took a timeout.
Following the break, Cambridge went on a massive run and led 21-15. They went on to close that set out at 25-20, even with Wynot making a bit of a comeback.
In the third set, it was a mixture of a couple of things. Wynot forcing the action, and the Trojans making some mistakes. Wynot got up at 5-1 and the Head Coach of the Trojans, Lauren Carpenter took a timeout. Cambridge got within two at 7-5, but the Blue Devils created some major space and would not let the Trojans get ahead. Eventually, they won by double digits at 25-15.
In the fourth set, Cambridge came out firing. Erin Johnson took the service line and didn't let go of it until Wynot took a timeout when it was 5-0. Cambridge kept their strong play up and went up 14-8. Wynot again had to take a timeout.
The Blue Devils did push the Trojans, tying it up at 17-17. Cambridge late in the set had to clean up some of their errors and eventually, they took down the Blue Devils 25-21.
Cambridge again leaned on the strong attacking of Jalen Kent and Erin Johnson. Unofficially, Kent had 20 kills and a pair of aces for the Trojans. Johnson added 14 kills in the match and a couple of aces. Brylyn Springer had a strong outing too with six kills, including the one to secure the match.
The stage is now set as Cambridge the #1 seed will play Overton the #2 seed in Class D2. This is a rubber match between the two squads. Overton won the first matchup back on September 7th three sets to one. Then in the D2-7 Subdistrict Final, Cambridge won in five sets on October 24th.
For the Trojans, this is the first time they have been back in the title game since 2008 when they were runner-up to Ravenna. They also finished second in 2007 to GICC. Their lone championship came in 1993 when they took down Crofton.
Overton, was the runner-up last season when they fell to Howells-Dodge. They have never won a title in their history, and this is just the second time in a title game.
The Class D2 Championship will be at 9:00 A.M. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Follow along with updates across our social media platforms on Facebook and X/Twitter.
To listen to the podcast update and hear from the Head Coach of the Trojans, Lauren Carpenter, click here.