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EDWARDSVILLE – Volleyball can be a game of momentum.
Metro East Lutheran seemingly had the momentum in Game 3 of their IHSA Class 1A regional final at Hooks Gym Thursday evening, holding as much as an 17-8 lead and seemingly having Brussels on the ropes.
The Raiders had other ideas; they staged a rally that got them to a 21-21 tie in the late going before scoring the final four points of the match to eliminate the Knights 26-24, 14-25, 25-22 to move into next week's Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran Sectional against New Athens regional winner Steeleville, 25-17, 19-25, 27-25 winners over the host Yellow Jackets, at 6:30 p.m. Monday; that sectional final is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, with the sectional winner going to the Raymond-Lincolnwood Super-Sectional Nov. 3.
Brussels advanced to the sectional at 21-12, while the Knights were eliminated at 12-24 on the year; the win was the Raiders' first regional title in the program's history.
“They're hard working and they don't give up,” Raider coach Melissa Stephens said. “They have determination and perseverance; my girls aren't ready to quit playing – they love volleyball and they want to keep playing. I have faith in them and they have faith in each other. They didn't let up.
“It looked like it was almost finished and they didn't let up; that's not the first time they've done that. We wanted to earn it and I think we did.”
“Volleyball is a game of momentum and it certainly wasn't on our side to finish the third game; it's like that sometimes,” said MEL coach Jon Giordano. “They made plays in the back half of the third game and we didn't unfortunately.
“We made a lot of unforced errors at critical moments when we could have stopped a run; we made a lot of fantastic plays as well – we just needed one or two more things to go our way. It just didn't work out that way.”
The Knights got out to a quick lead in the opening game, getting out to a 7-3 lead before the Raiders bounced back to draw even at 7-7; the teams traded points to stay with each other before a four-point run put MEL up 14-10. Brussels came back and managed to get to 15-15 before another exchange of points put the game at 18-18. Brussels then got to a 21-18 lead before MEL cut the lead to 21-20; the Raiders seemingly had the game put away before a three-point run by the Knights got the game to 24-24 before the Raiders got the final two point to win the opener.
MEL got out to an 8-2 start on Brussels in Game 2 before the Raiders seized momentum and managed to pull to 8-7; an exchange of points got the game tied at 9-9 when a five-point run put MEL up 14-9. Brussels tried to come up with some answers, but could get no closer than 15-11 before the Knights went on an eight-point run to extend the lead to 23-11, eventually getting the final two points to force a decisive Game 3.
MEL got the rubber game's first four points and got out to an 8-2 lead before the Raiders pulled to 9-6; the Knights then scored eight of the game's next 10 points to get to 17-8 on Brussels to put the Raiders on the ropes. Brussels answered by pulling to 17-13 and then to 19-15 before cutting the deficit to 20-18 before pulling even at 21-21. The Knights got to a 22-21 lead before the Raiders scored the final four points of the game to take the match and the trip to Centralia.
Sidney Vetter had 16 points on serve for the Knights, with Kate Weber scoring 11 points with two aces and Ellen Schulte nine points with two aces; Vetter added 26 assists while Alaina Bozarth and Schulte had eight kills each and Schulte had three blocks on the night. For the Raiders, Toni Odelehr had six kills to go with six blocks and four digs, while Erika Odelehr added five kills and four blocks, Jeni Ohlendorf five kills and Holly Kinder four blocks.
“I'm going to remember they had a lot of fun together, the fact that we played very tough teams and still maintained composure, that we fought hard and they got along really well, which is always nice,” Giordano said when asked what he would remember from this year's edition of the Knights. “They're a really wonderful group of young women.”
