DE KALB - The Edwardsville High girls volleyball team took another big step towards their goal on Friday night, putting together another solid team effort to defeat Huntley 25-12, 25-21 in the IHSA Class 4A super-sectional match at DeKalb High School.
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The Tigers advance to the state tournament, where they'll play traditional Chicagoland power Mother McAuley Catholic in the first semifinal next Friday evening.
Friday's win over the Red Raiders was the result of a team that went out, concentrated on the job at hand, and did their business very successfully.
"The girls stepped up, did their jobs and went out and took care of another opponent," said Edwardsville head coach Heather Ohlau. "Our defense was very strong, and our blockers controlled the net. Our hitters used various shots to keep the defense guessing."
The Tigers totally controlled the opening set and used a couple of runs to hold off Huntley in the second set to win the match.
"Huntley came out strong in the second set," Ohlau said, "but we were able to come up with a couple of streaks of points to get the lead and never looked back."
Kaitlyn Conway played well defensively for the Tigers, keeping the ball alive at key times while Maddie Vieth was able to turn a strong service game into valuable points for Edwardsville. Emma Garner led the team with six blocks, while both Sydney Davis and Sydney Harris had five blocks each and Ava Waltenberger added four.
In the other three super-sectional matches played on Friday, Mother McAuley defeated Villa Park Willowbrook 25-18, 25-21 to win their own super-sectional, while at Lake Zurich, Barrington eliminated Palatine Fremd 25-20, 21-25, 25-18 and in at Plainfield North, Aurora Metea Valley defeated Tinley Park Andrew 26-24, 25-8.
The Tigers meet the Mighty Macs in the first semifinal in Class 4A next Friday night at Redbird Arena at Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal at approximately 7 p.m., with the winner facing the Barrington-Metea Valley winner for the state championship next Saturday night at about 8:55 p.m. The third and fourth place match precedes the final at about 7:25 p.m.
"We'll have several practices to get ready for our next opponent," Ohlau said. "It's five down and two to go. And anytime you can add hardware to our program and the school, it's a great season."
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