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EDWARDSVILLE – The Edwardsville High girls’ volleyball team started their postseason campaign on the right foot with a 25-14, 25-21 win over Chatham Glenwood in the semifinals of the IHSA Class 4A regional tournament Tuesday evening at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
The Tigers, now 21-12 on the season, advances to play Springfield High, a 25-14, 26-24 winner over Quincy in the second semifinal, Thursday evening in the final.
It was a hard-fought match all the way, and Edwardsville coach Lisa Orlet felt that her team played well to advance.
“I think the pressure’s on, right?," commented Orlet. "You’re playing strong teams, and the teams don’t want their season to be over with, so everybody’s going to play hard fought matches. And I’ve got to give it to Chatham. They really had a great defense tonight and got in our girls’ head a little bit, but we were fortunate and came out on top.”
The second game, in particular, was a see-saw affair that saw the Tigers take a big lead, only to see the Titans close to within one point, which led to an Edwardsville time out. Orlet felt that the Tigers responded well after the timeout to close out the match.
“I think the girls, you know, they picked it up a notch after the timeout,” Orlet said, “and they definitely were pushing to realize the pressure wasn’t on them, so they were making better choices, and reading the tip and that sort of thing. And then we had some girls put the ball away, which was helpful.”
Sophomore outside hitter Alexa Harris continues to be a bright spot on the young Tigers’ team, as she had 12 kills and 11 digs, and was all over the court to help the Edwardsville cause.
“She’s a hard player, she’s a great leader, and she leads by example," Orlet said. "You can count on her pretty much all the time, so it was nice.”
And the most important thing is that all the players are contributing to the team’s success, which is always a good sign for a team.
“You gotta love when everybody contributes," Orlet said. "It makes it fun for the girls, and that’s what they deserve, I think, for all their hard work.”
Game one started out with an exchange of points between the two sides, with neither team going to more than a two-point advantage, but with the score 4-4, the Tigers went on the first run of the match. Morgan Tulacro and Gabby Saye started things off with combining on a block that tied the game, then Storm Suhre served up five points in a row, being helped by a combined block by Tulacro and Rihanna Huebner, a kill by Huebner and a point from Harris to make it 9-4 before Glenwood got the ball back. Two more kills from Harris extended the lead to 11-6, then the Tigers and Titans split the next 10 points to make it 16-11. Two more points for Edwardsville off kills by Harris and Huebner made it 18-11, and after the Titans pulled to within 18-13, Harris took over.
A tipped shot on defense made it 19-13, then another Harris kill made it 20-13. After Glenwood scored to make it 21-14, a Harris spike gave the ball back to the Tigers, and Harris herself served out the game, getting the last three points to make it 25-14 and give Edwardsville a one-game lead in the match.
The second game started in much the same fashion, with an exchange of points that made the score 6-6 before a combined block and a dink shot from Darby Dixon gave the Titans an 8-6 lead. The Tigers were able to tie things up again at 8-8, thanks in part to a Huebner dink that tied the score, but the Titans took the lead back at 10-8. Edwardsville retied the game at 10-10, then took the lead on a kill to make it 11-10. The service then see-sawed back and forth with the Tigers holding on to a 15-14 lead, then a Maddie Isringhausen block, a violation, and a Harris spike extended the Tiger lead to 18-14, forcing the Titans to call time. The momentum continued to go Edwardsville’s way as another Harris spike made it 19-14. Glenwood got the ball back and with Maddy Klemm-Giatz serving, Mya Hammond scored on a dink, and a deflection that went out cut the Edwardsville lead to 19-18, causing a Tigers’ timeout.
The Tigers got the ball back at 20-18, and then another exchange of points brought the score to 22-20. A Suhre spike made it 23-20, and a violation brought on match point for Edwardsville, but a violation made it 24-21. On the ensuing Titan service, a violation against Glenwood ended the match at 25-21, enabling the Tigers to advance.
Suhre led the way in points for the Tigers with seven, followed by Tulacro with five, and Huebner and Harris with four each. Suhre added on six kills by Emma Garner had five, and Tulacro added on 24 assists. Tulacro had seven digs for Edwardsville, while Olivia Melosci and Huebner contributed five each. Huebner also had three blocks, while Saye had two.
Orlet is looking ahead to the final on Thursday evening against the Senators.
“We’re going to watch here, scout a little bit, and see,” Orlet said, “and see some things we’re going to work on tomorrow and come out on top.”
And Orlet said that her team’s hard work is paying off.
“Just very happy for the girls,” Orlet said. “Their hard work is paying off.”
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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