EDWARDSVILLE - Edwardsville’s boys volleyball team pulled away to take the first set, then rallied back from a 6-2 deficit to take the lead and win the set and the match over Father McGivney Catholic 25-14, 25-18 in a match played Thursday evening at Joe E. Lucco Gym at Lincoln Middle School – the longtime home of the Tigers before the current campus was opened in 1997.
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Edwardsville stood 9-6 overall after weekend play with 2-0 wins over Duchesne, Collinsville, Saxony Lutheran and Althoff Catholic. The Tigers lost in weekend play to St. Dominic 2-1. Father McGivney stood 7-8 overall with a 2-0 win over Belleville West, 2-1 losses to Quincy Notre Dame and St. Dominic, a 2-1 win over Collnsville and 2-0 win over Maryville Christian in weekend action.
“I feel good,” said Edwardsville head coach Doug Allen after the win Thursday night over McGivney. “I think we played well, I like it when we face a little bit of adversity, and they just had some balls bouncing their way, we got some awkward bounces, and we just had to get our heads back in it and take control. The team did that, and I thought they did a great job.”
The game was moved to Lincoln after a mishap at their original home court, Liberty Middle School, flooded the gym floor. Liberty Middle was scheduled to be the Tigers’ home court, with ongoing repairs being made to the floor at Lucco-Jackson Gym, the team’s regular home.
“It’s been a hassle, so that’s been the logistics of it," Edwardsville Coach Allen said. "We’ve been moving, and we’ve got to take equipment, we’ve got to bring over our concessions, we’ve got to bring over our banners, are we going back to Liberty? We don’t know, so we’ve had to move around a couple of times, and make sure we’ve got the equipment we need. So I feel like I spend more time doing that kind of stuff.
"But we’re making it work, and as you can see, I thought we looked really good. We’ve had some great days in practice, we’ve looked really good in practice, and better and better as we’re going to build. I like it.”
The team chemistry is starting to return, and it’s showing on the court, which will only help the Tigers in the long run.
“I totally agree with that,” Allen said. “I would say the last two weeks, that first week out, that was kind of our first time playing together, and we looked a little bit unsure of each other, even though they’ve played together for years, now. In the off-season, they’re playing on their own teams, in other places. Being back together, they’ve got their chemistry, and they’re starting to click again, the timings showing up, and things are looking better and better. It’s exciting to watch.”
Things are starting to go better for the Tigers, and the remainder of the season, shows a lot of promise for the team.
“Absolutely,” Allen said. “We’re really excited for the season. Like I said, with us building, I’m looking at our schedule, and looking towards the end of the schedule to see where we’re at. I’m pretty confident we’re going to be right there at the top of the Southwestern Conference again, like the old days.”
The Griffins did play well throughout the match, and head coach Woody Halbrook was very pleased with how things turned out.
“We played pretty good for playing against a quality team like Edwardsville,” Halbrook said. “They’re a very good team.”
McGivney played well during a stretch early in the second set, taking the lead before Edwardsville rallied back and went ahead.
“I think we settled in on the second set,” Halbrook said, “played much better in the second set, got a few more attacks. But, that was also because we worked a little bit harder on our ball control. Our first touch was better in the second set than it was in the first set.”
Even when the Tigers went ahead in the second set, the Griffins hung in and kept things close, but Edwardsville took control and went on to the win.
“A lot of that has to do with us on our net play,” Halbrook said. “We need to get stronger on our net play, If we can get to, maybe, a handful of blocks in a match, we’ll be a lot more competitive.”
There’s still quite a bit of season left, and the Griffins will be looking to improve and get better as the season rolls along.
“Absolutely,” Halbrook said, “A lot of volleyball left. So, just looking forward to, hopefully, get these boys into at least one regional win,”
Edwardsville opened the match by scoring five of the first six points of the opening set, with Jude Lawrence, Joe Liston and Lucas Marsh. The Tigers’ lead expanded to 10-4, and later 18-9 before the Griffins called timeout to regroup. The lead kept growing to 23-12 before McGivney scored two points in a row to cut it to 24-14, but the Tigers put the set away on Liston kill to win the opening set 25-14 to go up 1-0.
The Griffins came out in the second set, and behind strong play by Owen Kolesa and Sam Venarsky, took a 7-2 lead after a service ace by Anthony Harkins, who played well the entire match. After getting the ball back at 7-3, Ben Kreke served up three points in a row to cut the lead to 7-6, and from there, a Liston kill gave Edwardsville the lead for good at 11-10, and expanded the lead to 16-11. McGivney didn’t give up, but kept coming, but in the end, The Tigers’ experience won the day, as Edwardsville closed out the match with a solid spike that went in to win 25-18, and take the match in straight sets
Father McGivney plays at Granite City Apr. 14 at 4:30 p.m., and hosts Alton Apr. 16, also at 4:30 p.m,
Edwardsville hosts Alton April 15 at 5:30 p.m., plays at Belleville West Apr. 17 at 5:45 p.m., then hosts Maryville Christian Apr. 24 at 5:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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