LEBANON - Trico gave it everything it had, but in the end, Bunker Hill was just too much for the Pioneers on Tuesday at the Class 1A Lebanon Sectional.

Bunker Hill (30-6) swept a pair of tightly-played sets, 25-19 and 25-22, thanks to 6-foot-1 senior Brooklyn Hlafka's 11 kills, six blocks and four digs. The Minutemaids move on to face Patoka, who beat Valmeyer on Tuesday, at 7 p.m. Thursday in the sectional championship.

"We just tried to play as a team and work together," Hlafka said. "I feel if we play hard now, we'll keep playing harder and harder as we go on."

Bunker Hill built a 16-10 lead in the first set, but Trico (18-14) came roaring back to trail only 17-16 when an attack by Hlafka went out of bounds.

The Minutemaids responded with two more points, but the Pioneers cut the deficit to one point again at 19-18 on a stuff block by Beth Daniels. Daniels was a hero for Trico, posting a double-double with 10 kills and 19 digs to lead her team in both categories.

"She took an injury early in the year and that really set us back during the regular season," said Trico coach Kassidy Phoenix. "But in the postseason, she was 100 percent and without her I don't think the score would have been what it was."

Try as they might, the Pioneers never could get the tying point, as Bunker Hill finished the opening set with a 6-1 run.

The second set, however, was a different story. Jennifer McGill led off the set with an ace for Trico, which turned a 6-4 deficit into an 11-6 lead that included a kill where Daniels banked an attack off of two Bunker Hill players.

"It wasn't going to be a fast-paced game and that's one of our weaknesses," said Bunker Hill coach Marissa Law on the concerns she had when facing Trico. "We like to be very, very fast-paced and (Tuesday) wasn't a fast-paced game."

Unfortunately for the Pioneers, they couldn't maintain their momentum as Bunker Hill slowly chipped away at the deficit, finally tying the game at 17 on a kill by Michaela Hlafka.

"In the second set we finally got our timing down a little better and what rhythms they were running," Phoenix said. "And that really paid off."

The Pioneers broke a 19-all tie with two straight points, but Bunker Hill re-tied it at 22. A net violation on Trico gave the Minutemaids the lead for good and Bunker Hill finished off the sweep with two kills by Brooklyn Hlafka.

Despite the loss, the outlook is still very promising for Trico, which won its first regional title since 2002 and returns Daniels and the majority of the team next season.

"We're only losing two seniors this year," Phoenix said. "The younger girls, I'm retaining all of them, so the prospects look extremely good for next year."

pete.spitler@thesouthern.com /618-351-5073