BETHALTO – For awhile, it seemed as though Marquette was going to run Civic Memorial right out of its own building.
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The Explorers took control early of their non-conference girls volleyball match and went on to post a five-point opening-game win, then seemed to about to do the same thing in the second game.
That's when the Eagles suddenly came alive, taking advantage of Explorer miscues and going on to post a 20-25, 25-13, 25-14 win to go to 2-0 on the season.
“We were a bit nervous on our own court,” said Eagle coach Amanda Biggs. “The pressure they felt playing in front of our own fans seemed to get to them (Wednesday's match was the Eagles' home opener), but then we gained control of the match and took advantage of their service errors and tipping errors.”
The errors didn't exactly sit well with Explorer coach Sue Heinz. “We beat ourselves,” Heinz said. “We had more than 20 service errors, we had errors returning serves. That's not acceptable. We were making mistakes and it wound up putting us on our heels.
“I told the girls that, when they make a mistake, let it go and keep thinking positive, don't dwell on it. Just put the errors behind you and keep moving forward.”
The Explorers came out steady throughout the game, taking the lead quickly and never relinquishing it, though the Eagles attempted to rally before the Explorers closed them out. In Game 2, it was just the opposite; CM grabbed the lead early on and never let Marquette get near getting the lead back, quickly closing out the game to send the match to a deciding game.
Game 3 started out wit the teams splitting the first two points before CM went on a five-point run to open up a 5-1 lead, Kennedy Carnes getting a dink at the net into open space to cap the run. Marquette's serve after regaining possession, though, went wide, and the Eagles' Lily Mueller had a big spike to make it 6-2.
Marquette cut the lead to 6-5, thanks to a Michelle Cameron block at the net, but CM went back out to a 10-5 lead when Sydney Marshall's dink into open space forced the Explorers to call time to stop the momentum.
After an Eagle point made it 11-5, Marquette pulled to 11-10 before the Eagles regained control to get the lead to 19-12. The Explorers pulled back to 19-14 before the Eagles scored the final six points to close out the match.
Anna Daughtery had five kills to lead Marquette, with Brittany Pace had three service aces, Katie Gierer had 15 digs, Marissa Nosco nine assists and Cameron two blocks.
The Explorers host Greenville in a Thursday night contest at home, while the Eagles travel to Granite City for a Tuesday night clash with the Warriors.
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