EDWARDSVILLE - Senior setter Maddie Vieth had a big game with 14 points and thee aces as Edwardsville's girls volleyball team won its home opener over Collinsville in a Southwestern Conference match 25-10, 25-9 Thursday evening at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
The Tigers played well in all phases of the game in taking the match, going to 2-0 on the young season, both conference wins. Edwardsville defeated O'Fallon in the season opener on Tuesday evening.
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"The team really connected, we served well and we were really able to move the ball around," said Edwardsville head coach Heather Ohlau. "It's always nice to compete and get a few wins early in the season."
Vieth was singled out by Ohlau as her team's best player, and also gave credit to Gabby Saye, Emma Garner and Sydney Davis on offense, and Kaitlyn Conway defensively.
"Maddie scored 14 points and really led us on the service line," Ohlau said. "Defensively, Kaitlyn Conway spearheaded our defense with several digs. Everybody was able to contribute to the win."
To go along with Vieth's performance, Kloi Karban and Ava Walternberger had a pair of blocks each, Saye and Garner had six kills apiece, while Karban had five kills and Sydney Harris had four, Conway had nine digs to help the Tigers, while Garner had seven.
The Tigers are now 2-0 and will host their Tiger Classic tournament over the weekend, with top-notch schools in the field. Set to compete are the Kahoks and Panthers, along with Bloomington, Columbia, Oakville, Nerinx Hall Catholic, Chatham Glenwood, Pleasant Plains, Breese Mater Dei Catholic, Columbia and Eureka, Mo. The Tigers are in a group with Rosati-Kain Catholic of St. Louis, Staunton and Freeburg, and will play their first two matches in the tournament Friday, meeting Rosati-Kain at 5 p.m. and Staunton at 7 p.m. The championship game is set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
It'll be the first Classic held in two years, with the 2020 edition being canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Ohlau is looking ahead to the tournament and its competition and has some simple goals for the weekend.
"Just continue to improve, both offensively and defensively," Ohlau said about this weekend, "and just continue to utilize all the players on the court and not just one or two. It'll be a long weekend, but it should be fun."
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