ROXANA – Piasa Southwestern finished on top of Group C, while Jersey won Group D to advance to Saturday’s Gold bracket of the 11th annual Roxana girls volleyball Invitational tournament Tuesday evening at Larry Milazzo Gym, the auxiliary gym at Roxana High School and the Roxana Junior High School gym.
The Piasa Birds won Group C by winning their matches over Father McGivney Catholic, East Alton-Wood River, and Granite City, while the Panthers took the measure of Marquette Catholic, Brussels and Mt. Olive in Group D to advance.
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In the first round of matches in Group C, the Oilers defeated the Warriors 25-12, 25-17, while Southwestern won over the Griffins 28-26, 25-21 in a very close match. In the second round, EAWR defeated McGivney 25-17, 17-25, 16-14, while the Birds won over Granite 25-21, 23-25, 16-14. In the last round of matches, the Griffins won over the Warriors 25-7, 25-23, while the Birds clinched the group with a 26-24, 25-15 win over the Oilers.
The final standings in Group C saw Southwestern win the group with a 3-0 record, EAWR was second as 2-1, McGivney third at 1-2, and Granite fourth at 0-3.
In the opening round of Group D, Jersey won a very tight match over Marquette, winning 23-25, 25-20, 15-12, while Brussels defeated Mt. Olive 10-25, 25-23, 15-13. In the second round, it was the Panthers win over the Wildcats 25-8, 25-18, and the Explorers defeating the Raiders 25-12, 25-9. In the final matches of the group stage, it was Marquette over Mt. Olive 25-23, 25-10, and Jersey winning the group with a 25-10, 25-8 win over Brussels.
The final standing in Group D showed the Panthers winning with a 3-0 slate, the Explorers second at 2-1, the Raiders coming in third at 1-2, and the Wildcats fourth at 0-3.
The finals will take place Saturday morning and afternoon at all three sites. In the fourth-place bracket, Valmeyer will play Mt. Olive at 9 a.m., while Dupo will meet Granite City at 10 a.m., with both matches in the junior high gym. The third-place match in the bracket will be played at 11 a.m. in the auxiliary gym, while the bracket final will be played in the auxiliary gym at 12 noon.
In the Bronze bracket, Gillespie plays against Brussels in the first semifinal at 9 a.m. in Milazzo Gym, while Hardin Calhoun meets Father McGivney at 9 a.m. in the auxiliary gym. The third-place match in the bracket will be played at 10 a.m. in the auxiliary gym, while the final in the Bronze bracket is in Milazzo gym at 10 a.m.
In the Silver bracket, Bunker Hill meets Marquette in the first semifinal at 11 a.m. in the junior high gym, while the second semifinal pits Auburn against East Alton-Wood River at 12 noon, also in the junior high gym. The third-place match in the bracket is at 1 p.m. in the junior high gym, while the final in the Silver bracket goes off at 2 p.m., also in the junior high gym.
In the Gold bracket, the semifinals will have the host Shells meeting Jersey at 11 a.m., while Civic Memorial takes on Southwestern at 12 noon. The third-place match will by played at 1 p.m., and the championship match starts at 2 p.m., with all matches in the bracket being played at Milazzo Gym.
Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
