BELLEVILLE – The Edwardsville High girls volleyball team won their 10th straight Southwestern Conference championship outright on Thursday evening, defeating Belleville West 25-13, 25-14 in the regular season finale at the West gym. Edwardsville ends up at 22-13, with both sides entering the IHSA Class 4A Edwardsville regional this week at Liberty Middle School.
The top-seeded Tigers play Granite City at 6 p.m., while the fourth-seeded Maroons meet up with Alton at 7 p.m on Tuesday, with the two winners meeting in the final next Thursday, Halloween evening, at 6 p.m. The Edwardsville winner plays the Collinsville winner in a neutral-site match in the Normal Community West sectional Nov. 5, with the site and time to be announced, the winner going on to play in the sectional final Nov. 7 at 6 p.m.
The sectional winner goes on to play the Chicago Marist Catholic sectional winner in the super-sectional at RIchton Park Rich Township High Nov. 11, with the start time to be announced. The state finals are set for CEFCU Arena on the campus of Illinois State University Nov. 15-16.
The win gives the Tigers a conference mark of 11-1, a game ahead of O’Fallon, who ends up at 10-2 with a win over Alton on Thursday, while the Maroons ended up 9-3 in the league. The Tigers were able to use the momentum generated from a stunning win over defending IHSA Class 2A state champion Breese Mater Dei Catholic on Tuesday, but still fought hard to clinch the conference championship.
“Tonight was another hard-fought win for us, which secured the Southwestern Conference title,” said Edwardsville head coach Heather Ohlau. “Coming off a strong win against Mater Dei on Tuesday helped build our confidence as we finished up the regular season. Belleville West was able to serve us out of the system several times throughout the match, but we were able to counter with an aggressive serving of our own. We look to improve in the areas we need to, and refine our overall skills as we head into the postseason.”
Madelyn Ohlau served up 10 points and three aces for the Tigers, while Maddie Reader had seven points and two aces, Livia Goebel assisted on five blocks, with Ciera Cunningham assisting on three, Cunningham also had 12 kills, while Ohlau put down six kills, Ohlau had nine digs, with Grace Malawy having seven, Savannah Ford came up with 16 assists, while Lucy Malawy had eight.
The Maroons finished the regular season at 21-13.
Tigers Honor Five Seniors In Annual Pre-match Ceremonies, Play Well, Lose To Mater Dei In Regular Season Home Finale 25-18, 25-20
The Edwardsville High girls volleyball team played well, and had plenty of good moments, but in the end, lost their regular season home finale to Breese Mater Dei Catholic 25-18, 25-20 in a match played Monday evening at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
It was the Tigers’ annual Senior Night match, and in the traditional pre-match ceremonies, the five players in the Class of 2023 – Ava Waltenberger, Vyla Hupp, Dallas Jenkins, Mackenzie Heberer and Claire Dunivan and their families were honored. The girls and families were thanked for their contributions to the Edwardsville program and when the match started, the Tigers played well against the Knights, one of the state’s traditional volleyball powers.
“We put some good points together,” said Edwardsville head coach Ohlau, “and Mater Dei’s defense was scrappy and put together some long rallies. Mater Dei’s always a tough team and that’s why we schedule them, so they’ll make us better.”
The Tigers also played solid defensively, which helped their offense find good shots and score points.
“Our defense kept the ball alive,” Ohlau said, “and our hitters were able to find the open shots, In the end, most of the points went Mater Dei’s way.”
The five seniors who were honored before the match made very important contributions to the Tigers during their time in the program and Ohlau is very proud of the players and their accomplishments.
“This group of seniors have filled in a leadership role and set an example for our underclassmen,” Ohlau said. “This group is a part of the legacy of Edwardsville volleyball and maintained the high standards of our program. We’ll miss them, but I hope I get them for another four weeks,” she said.
