EDWARDSVILLE - The Collinsville High girls volleyball team had its moments to shine, but in the end,, Edwardsville was able to make the plays needed to pull away and take a 25-12, 25-17 straight set win over the Kahoks in a Southwestern Conference match Tuesday evening at Lucco-Jackson Gym.
The Tigers came off a good showing at their Tiger Classic tournament over the weekend, and will play in a very good Crossroads Classic tournament this weekend in Effingham.. Edwardsville is now 3-0 in the league, and looked strong again against a quality conference foe.
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"Collinsville brought it tonight," said Tigers' head coach Heather Ohlau. "They had some nice attacks, they were able to dig the ball, they had some good net play that kept us on the defense a little more than I'd like."
Ciara Cunningham had another good match for Edwardsville, and she's a key attacker that helps make the Tigers go.
"Whenever we're able to get the ball in system to our attackers, they can produce so well at the net," Ohlau said. "We've just got to continue to work on being disciplined on defense and our passing, then mixing up our sets more."
The Tigers came off their showing in the Tiger Classic well, and look ahead to the Crossroads Classic this weekend.
"The Tiger Classic kind of let us know where we stand," Ohlau said. "We had some good matches, we had a little bit of some rough matches, but we grew as a team, and that's what it's all about."
The Tigers will get back to work in preparation for the Effingham tournament, which also attracts some of the best teams in the state, and Ohlau knows about the upcoming challenges the Tigers will be facing.
"We get back to work," Ohlau said. "We have two days in the gym to clean up what we need to before heading to Effingham for the Crossroads Classic, which is another tough road for us."
The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Tigers, and it's the way Ohlau wants it.
"Nope, and that's why we put girls through it," Ohlau said. "In order to compete at that net level, you've got to play some of the best competition in the state, and out of state. And that's what we provide to our athletes."
The Tigers opened the match by scoring four o the first five points to take a 4-1 lead, then extended the lead to 9-2 as Cunningham and Ari Fasaro scored some good kills, and the service of Heather Ohlau and Lucy Malawy, but Natalie Thompson served up a string of points to cut he lead to 8-6, and eventually came back to 9-8. The Tigers went on to make it 10-8. After a short exchange of points, Edwardsville extended its lead to 19-11 after which Fasaro served out the set as the Tigers went on to win 25-12 to take a one-set lead.
The Kahoks got their first lead at the start of the second set, as Collinsville, behind Avery Johnson's service gave the Kahoks a 4-1 lead. The Tigers fought back to tie the set 4-4, a combined block by Livia Goebel and Ohlau, and Cunningham kill giving the Tigers the lead at 5-4. The Tigers eventually make it 11-7, and 13-8, eventually going to 17-8, then the Kahoks went on a streak, as Addyson Muniz helped serve Collinsville back to 17-16. The Tigers righted themselves, and scored eight of the final nine points, winning the match on an on a missed shot to win the second set 25-17 and the match two sets to none.
Cunningham had seven kills for the Tigers, while Collins Cleland had six kills, Savannah Ford had 15 assists, Goebel had 12 points and three aces, while Amelia Zhang served up eight points and two aces, Zhang also had eight digs, and Cunningham came up with nine blocks.
The Kahoks are now 2-3, and host Waterloo on Wednesday and Granite City on Thursday, both matches starting at 6 p.m., then will compete in the Alton Invitational this weekend, playing Westminster Christian of west St. Louis County Friday evening at 5:30 p.m.
The Tigers go to 6-3, and play against Castle, Ind., in Effingham Friday evening at 7:05 p.m., then Hermann, Mo. at 8:10 p.m., Edwardsville then plays at Belleville East Sept. 16 at 5:45 p.m., then hosts Cor Jesu Academy of Affton, Mo., Sept. 18, also at 5:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
