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ROXANA – Hardin-Calhoun reached last year's IHSA Class 1A girls volleyball supersectional, and this year, the Warriors are showing no signs of slowing down.
They opened their season Tuesday with a pair of wins in the Roxana Lady Shells Volleyball Tournament at Larry Milazzo Gym, having little trouble with Dupo 25-4, 25-10 and then downing Marquette 25-13, 25-15 in the tournament's Pool A.
The Explorers also dropped a 19-25, 25-20, 16-14 decision to Mount Olive in their second match of the evening but bounced back to defeat Gillespie 25-27, 25-17, 15-10. Other matches saw the Wildcats get a 25-22, 25-16 win over the Miners and a 27-25, 25-13 win over the Tigers, while Gillespie defeated Dupo 25-21, 25-17.
“It was an OK start for us,” said Warrior coach Ann Gilman. “We've got some work to do, but we looked all right. It's our first match like a lot of other teams and we have some work to do.”
Calhoun lost just two seniors from last year's quarterfinalists, and they were in the back row; up front, they feature Grace and Emma Baalman, with Emily and Abby Baalman in back, among others. “We've got a couple of girls who are 6-2, and with the leaping ability, it's like they're almost 6-8,” Gilman said. “What's even better is that they have a lot of athleticism and intelligence.
“We're fortunate to have athletes like that. They don't come around very often.”
Explorers coach Sue Heinz was happy with her team's effort against the Warriors; against the Wildcats, though, not so much. “We played great against Calhoun,” Heinz said. “We made too many mistakes against Mount Olive though. We're better all around, but we've got some things we need to learn and to work on.
“It's frustrating, but it is early. We had two tough matches to open up with; with one, I'm happy, with the other, not that happy.”
Heinz credited seniors Caitlyn Hanlon and Andria Pace with outstanding play in their first two matches. “Caitlyn had some really outstanding kills tonight,” Heinz said, “and Andria served well.”
Play in the tournament resumes at 8:30 a.m. Saturday with the conclusion of pool play. In the large gym, Roxana meets Jersey at 8:30 a.m., followed by Hardin-Calhoun against Mount Olive and the Shells taking on traditional rival East Alton-Wood River in the finale. In the small gym, Marquette opens the day against Dupo, followed by Bunker Hill meeting Madison and Hardin-Calhoun taking on Gillespie.
Place matches begin at 11:30 a.m., with the fifth-place pool teams meeting in the small gym and the third-place teams squaring off in the large gym. At 12:30 p.m., the small gym hosts the fourth-place teams and the large gym has the match between the second-place sides. The first-place pool teams clash in the large gym at 1:30 p.m. to decide the tournament championship.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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