EDWARDSVILLE - Although the Maroons eventually lost a girls' volleyball match on Thursday night, Sept. 25, 2025, at Edwardsville, Belleville West showed a fighting spirit and a never-say-die attitude that will carry them a long way as the second half starts.
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Edwardsville's girls volleyball team rallied for a 23-25, 25-15, 25-10 win over Belleville West in a Southwestern Conference match Thursday evening at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
"Edwardsville is a great team," said Maroons coach Me'Ashah Franklin. "Right now, I believe they're first in the conference, and undefeated in the conference, so we knew it was going to be a fight when we came in here, and we did our best to put up a fight. And that's exactly what we did."
Although the Tigers were the better team, especially in the final set, West held their own, and the team kept hanging in there, no matter what.
"Yes," Franklin said with confidence. "I'm really proud of how the girls fought. They didn't give up, they didn't quit when our backs were against the wall, even though things weren't going our way. They kept trying, and that's the type of culture we are building at Belleville West."
It has been a good season so far for the Maroons, and the second half of the campaign will definitely be a proving ground for the team ahead.
"Yeah, we're doing OK this season," Franklin said. "We've got some tough matches coming up, so every time we step into the gym for game day, it's a dogfight, But we are ready for that challenge."
In other words: just another night in the Southwestern Conference.
"Yes," Franklin said with a laugh. "We have a tough conference, but I believe it prepares the girls for the next level, if they want to go and play college, or whatever the case may be. But yeah, it's definitely a tough conference, for sure."
With the second half of the season coming right up, Franklin's goals and aspirations for the Maroons are straightforward and simple.
"The goal is to go as far as we can," Franklin said. "If that's state, that is state. If that's regionals, that regionals, for sectionals and super-sectionals. But the goal is to try and go as far as we can for our seniors that we have."
The Maroons go to 9-9, and next meet Belleville Althoff Catholic Monday at home in a 6:30 p.m. start, travel to O'Fallon on Tuesday, then are at Belleville East Oct. 9, both matches starting at 5:45 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
