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EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville High girls volleyball team reeled off nine straight points to take the first set, then used another long string in the second set to defeat Collinsville 25-17, 25-16 in the Tigers' annual Volley For The Cure match for breast cancer awareness Tuesday evening at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
The Tigers, who wore pink jerseys during the match and also honored breast cancer survivors in a prematch ceremony, used the momentum from their fourth-place finish in the Scholastic Cup tournament in St. Charles this past weekend, and played very well against the Kahoks.
"Yeah, absolutely," said Edwardsville head coach Lisa Orlet. "I think the girls figured out how to play together more as a team, and they're trusting each other, and they know they can count on each other, and they're letting go of their mistakes, which is a sign of growth too, and realizing their talents, so I'm really excited for them. We've been trying to focus on having fun, and coach included," Orlet said with a smile. "It's been good. They've opened up too, and tell me what they need from me, and definitely, it was more fun, so we're working on that."
Definitely a good sign for the Tigers with everyone on the same page, and trusting each other.
"Absolutely," Orlet said. "I think when you have all of this talent in one gym, the biggest accomplishment is to realize maybe it won't be your night, but it'll be someone else's night, and to celebrate each other, and realize that there's a lot of people who have your back."
And the annual Volley For The Cure match is a very meaningful event for the entire team, especially this year.
"Oh, absolutely," Orlet said. "It's, unfortunately, become through this program, there's many people it has contacted, including one of our own, and her mom is having surgery next week, so we're sending lots of prayers and positive energy her way, and you know, it just puts everything in perspective."
The Tigers started out the match by scoring the first three points of the opening set, with Maddie Isringhausen getting the kills on the first two points. The lead eventually became 5-1, forcing a Kahok time out, then Isringhausen drove home another kill to make it 7-1 for the Tigers. The Kahoks put together a rally, with Hannah Scrum leading the way with a pair of kills to cut the Tiger lead to 7-5. The Kahoks then tied the set up at 8-8 before losing the ball on a block out of bounds, and Alexa Harris drove home a kill to make it 10-8 for Edwardsville. Collinsville then scored two of the next three points to cut the lead to 11-10, causing the Tigers to call time out, and after the two teams exchanged points, with Edwardsville not being able to lead by more than two, a Kristyn Mitchell kill, a ball hit wide and a violation against the Tigers gave the Kahoks a 17-16 lead. The Tigers tied it up on an errant serve into the net, and Isringhausen reeled off the set's last eight points, with Harris and Rihanna Huebner coming up with a big block to give Edwardsville the lead back at 18-17, and Harris personally accounting for five of the last seven points of the set, with a pair of kills and a block along the way, finishing up with a nice tip over the net to give Edwardsville the 25-17 win to take the set.
The two teams exchanged points to open the second set, with Gabby Saye and Huebner combining on a block to give Edwardsville a 4-2 lead to start. The Tigers eventually jumped to a 7-4 advantage before Collinsville, behind good play from Elise Halbrooks, cut the lead to 9-8. The Kahoks tied it up at 9-9, and after an exchange of points that made it 11-11, the Tigers came up with eight unanswered points behind Emma Garner's services, which included back-to-back aces that hit off the tape on the top of the net and in, and kills from both Saye and Isringhausen that made the score 19-11. Collinsville was able to cut the lead to 20-14, but Isringhausen served up two more points to make it 23-14, and after an exchange of points, Harris drove home the kill to clinch the set and the match for the Tigers at 25-16.
Harris ended up with nine kills for Edwardsville, with Isringhausen adding six. Garner and Morgan Tulacro had seven digs each, while Tulacro had 12 assists, with Lexie Griffin adding seven, Garner served up 12 points and five aces, while Isringhausen had 10 points and five blocks.
The Kahoks are now 9-11, 4-6 in the Southwestern Conference, and host Alton on Thursday in a 5:45 p.m. start, then also host Freeburg Oct. 21 and Columbia Oct. 22 before ending the regular season at East St. Louis on Oct. 24.
The Tigers are now 20-6, 9-0 in the league, and reached the 20-win mark for the 20th consecutive season. Edwardsville is at East St. Louis on Thursday in a 4:30 p.m. start, then is at Breese Mater Dei Catholic Oct. 21, host Belleville West in the home finale Oct. 22, and concludes the regular season Oct. 24 at Belleville East. The Tigers' momentum comes at a great time, with the postseason getting ready to start, and Orlet thinks that her team is a contender.
"Yeah, definitely have the talent," Orlet said. "There's a lot of strong teams that are in our way, but I think if they continue to grow, and play as a team, and we keep enjoying ourselves, yeah, we're going to give everyone a run for their money."
Orlet also thanked the fans for their support of breast cancer awareness during the match.
"Just thank you very much, and appreciate everybody coming out tonight to support breast cancer awareness," Orlet said.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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