EDWARDSVILLE – This year’s edition of Edwardsville High’s girls' volleyball team is a youthful one, with just one senior – Corrine Timmerman – on the roster.

Five sophomores are on this year’s team, and one of them – setter Morgan Tulacro – is aiming to fill a big hole left when Rachel Verdun graduated from last year’s team.

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“We are a new team,” Tulacro said following last Wednesday’s Tiger match against Incarnate Word at Lucco-Jackson Gym, “but even this year, I think we have the possibility to win that game; I think we just got in our heads at point 17 and then we just fell apart (the Red Knights scored a sweep over EHS).

“I think our team is finally, like, starting to get together,” Tulacro said. “We’ve barely played with each other; I’m the new setter, replacing Rachel Verdun; obviously, I feel some pressure, but I have to realize that I can do it and fill her shoes.”

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So far this season, Tulacro has a 93.1 service percentage with four errors out of 58 service attempts to go with nine kills of 25 attempts and 155 assists, a 9.6 assist-per-game average, with six blocks and 48 digs for the season thus far.

Tulacro has been playing volleyball since she was 11. “My mom went to college playing volleyball at Aurora College (in suburban Chicago),” Tulacro said. “My dad liked sand volleyball and I just played around and I liked it.”

As for goals for the season, Tulacro said one goal was to “try to fill Rachel Verdun’s shoes; she was such a good setter – she was my role model. I looked up to her so much; she’s killing it at Parkland College (in Champaign) – she’s doing good.

“I just want to try to get consistent and be the leader," she said. "It’s a learning process.”

The Tigers host Belleville Althoff at Lucco-Jackson Gym at 5 p.m. Tuesday and East St. Louis at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

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