GODFREY -- The Alton Redbirds' season came to an end on Monday night with a 2-0 loss to the Glenwood Titans in the first round of the Class 4A Alton Regional.
The Titans (18-12) defeated Alton 25-22, 25-21. The Redbirds fell behind in both games, but fought back on both occasions.
In the first game, Glenwood had a 9-5 lead. Alton managed to get within 22-20 but that's as close as it would get.
Titans’ coach Amanda O’Rourke thought her team got off to a slow start.
“We came out a little bit flat,” she said. “We weren’t expecting that bus ride to be as long. We haven’t had that many away games. We were faking it until we made it at the beginning. The mentality of being aggressive, we did have some points put on us that we will avoid in the future.”
Glenwood established a 10-2 lead in the second game. Kills by Savannah Fisher and Annie Evans cut the Titans' lead to 10-4.
Alton middle hitter Annie Evans’ kill made the score 10-3 Titans. Savannah Fisher’s kill pulled the Redbirds a little closer, as Glenwood led 10-4. Six of the Titans’ first ten points came from unforced errors.
Alton coach Stacey Ferguson said her team suffered from communication problems.
“That is the first (time this season) that we’ve had that, with our hitters running into each other,” she said. “We can’t do this now. It’s not the time to be falling apart and having problems we haven’t had all season long. Communication is always a struggle for us. While I have unspoken leadership on the court, I don’t feel like I have one girl that takes charge verbally and leads the court and that leads to unforced errors as well.”
The Redbirds got within 20-17 after Evans served four straight points. Alton got a block from Fisher and Katie Mans during that stretch.
Fisher served three straight points to tie the game at 21-21. But the Titans closed things out with a 4-0 run. Defensive specialist Sarah Bingenheimer served the final three points of the run.
“We did (battle) and it’s something to keep our heads up about and focus on going into the off-season and next year,” Ferguson said. “But the bottom line is you don’t get down 10-2 in volleyball against a team that’s wanting the same outcome. It’s win and keep going or lose and go home. Whenever we give them that opportunity to get ahead of us it’s hard. I’m proud that they battled and wouldn’t give up, but I’d like to see that from zero to zero.”
When asked about her serving run, Evans talked about concentration as a factor.
“I just wanted to get it in at first,” Evans said. “As the points got up, I wanted to serve it harder and harder so we could get more points.”
The Redbirds finished their season with a 14-20-1 mark.
The Titans will play top-seeded Edwardsville tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.
Redbirds take third in Girls Alton Invitational Volleyball Tourney - AdVantage News - 9/10/2016
Updated on 06/10/2022
GIRLS' VOLLEYBALL: Roxana takes second at Alton Invite
GODFREY — For the second week in a row Alton High School housed a girls' volleyball tournament.
After the Redbirds were champions of the Redbird Classic, they were only able to muster third at the Alton Invite on Saturday. Fort Zumwalt North garnered the top spot with the Roxana Shells earning second place. The rest of the field rounded out with: Carrollton, Civic Memorial and Jersey.
FZN went 5-0 to nab the title. The Panthers and Shells met on Saturday afternoon, both undefeated and proving to be the championship match of the round robin tourney.
Roxana gave a valiant effort, but ultimately fell 25-21, 25-13. Head coach Mike McKinney was proud of the efforts of his squad in the tournament.
“This is a great way to find out where we're at, what we need to work on,” McKinney said. “I think we played excellent all five matches. Playing against good teams can only make you better and I think the effort we gave this whole tournament to win four matches, our girls are excited. Yeah you want to win the championship, but when you come in and have to play these teams, you can play really well and go 0-5. We found a way to win four and I'm ecstatic for them, they're ecstatic and hopefully we build off that for the rest of the season.”
The Shells started with a 25-19, 25-23 win over Jersey and an 18-25, 25-19, 15-11 victory over CM on Friday. They then opened Saturday play with a 26-24, 25-23 triumph over the host Redbirds and a 25-10, 25-15 win over Carrollton before drawing FZN.
Roxana opened strong against the Panthers, trading blows with them and taking leads of 10-9 and 11-10 midway through the match and later 20-19 and 21-20. Senior Taylor Westfall, who was named to the all-tournament team with fellow Shell Braeden Lackey, provided five kills in Game 1.
FZN proved too much at the net late in the game though. Mya Young supplied a kill and all-tournament selection Jaime Hauser hammered home three kills over the Panthers' final five-point run to win the opening game.
Game 2 was all FZN. Tournament MVP Tiana Jackson flexed her muscles at the net, providing superb blocking, three kills and an ace in the win.
A seven-point spree gave the Panthers a 15-3 lead and a later six-point spurt made it 23-11 as Roxana could never find an answer for the dominant net play.
“We played a very hard fought first game, but once they got into that second game and got on a roll we couldn't stop them,” McKinney said. “They had two good runs on us and we did everything we could but it wasn't enough. Congratulations to them, they earned it.”
McKinney was happy to see Westfall and Lackey make the all-tourney team, but admitted it was a total team effort over the two days.
“They get the award for being all-tournament, but everyone of our kids did a great job. Lackey and Westfall I'm guessing had about 55 kills each in this tournament. We relied on them and kept setting them again and again.
“Westfall is our leader, her, (Niah) Bevolo and (Abby) Palen are the seniors and Lackey is a quiet leader, she just gets the job done. She doesn't do much
Volleyball Redbirds take tourney title - The Telegraph - 9/3/2016
Updated on 06/10/2022
PREP VOLLEYBALL: Redbirds, Tigers take tourney titles
The Alton Redbirds and Edwardsville Tigers celebrated tournament championships on their home courts Saturday afternoon.
The Redbirds closed with a three-set victory over Orchard Farm to clinch their third straight championship at the Redbird Classic. At Edwardsville, the host Tigers took out Southwestern Conference rival O’Fallon in straight sets to win their Tiger Classic for the first time since 2007.
Alton setter Sydney Schmidt was named the tourney MVP at AHS, where the Redbirds also placed Annie Evans and Savannah Fisher on the all-tourney team.
“The girls made it happen,” Alton coach Stacey Ferguson said, “one match at a time.”
The Redbirds went 5-0 in the tournament, with Granite City going 4-1 to finish second. Triad (3-2) placed third, with Gillespie, Southwestern and Orchard Farm all going 1-4.
Alton was tested in its final match with Orchard Farm, with the Eagles winning the second set to force a third game that Alton won 15-7. The Redbirds committed seven service errors in the set they lost. “You just can’t win like that,” Ferguson said.
The tourney run extended Alton’s winning streak to seven straight since a season-opening defeat at Columbia. Work remains for the Redbirds, but their coach was encouraged by their fight against adversity.
“We didn’t give up,” Ferguson said. “We had situations where it could have gotten ugly and turned for the worse. The girls found a way to pull together and finish on top, so that’s always a positive.”
Southwestern’s Lexy Hall, Gillespie’s Amanda Schmidt, Orchard Farm’s Julie Johnston, Triad’s Megan Schmiske and Hannah Johnson, and Granite’s Megan Burge and Morgan Tanksley joined the three Redbirds on the all-tourney squad.
Edwardsville pushed its record to 6-0 heading into Wednesday’s showdown with Missouri power St. Joseph’s Academy at Edwardsville.
The Tigers fended off a previously unbeaten Eureka (Mo.) 25-21, 29-27 in the straight sets in the semifinals to earn their title shot. Eureka came back to defeat Breese Mater Dei for third place.
“I was really impressed with the girls,” Edwardsville coach Jami Parker said. “They were steady the whole time, there were no major ups or downs. They just played their game and did a great job.”
The championship match was a rematch of last season’s Class 4A sectional semifinal that saw O’Fallon beat the Tigers in three sets. Both teams are loaded for 2016, but Edwardsville struck first.
“O’Fallon, for us, is always an emotional match,” Parker said. “It has a lot of highs and a lot of lows because the two teams are rivals. One of the things we talked about was maintaining focus and just staying level.”
Edwardsville beat O’Fallon 25-22, 25-21 to claim an elusive title in their own tourney. The Panthers are 6-1.
Tigers junior Rachel Pranger was named the tourney’s MVP. Edwardsville’s Kate Martin and Megan Woll, both juniors, were all-tourney selections.
Greg Shashack may be reached at 618-798-1486 or on Twitter @gregshashack
Alton, Granite City come out on top in first day of Redbird Volleyball Classic Tourney - Riverbender.com - 9/2/2016
ALTON - The Alton High School Lady Redbirds volleyball team stretched their record to 4-1 for the 2016 season in their first day of play in their own Redbird Volleyball Classic.
The two-day tournament, which began on Friday, Sept. 2, and continuesSaturday, Sept. 3, brings teams from Gillespie, Triad and St. Charles’ Orchard Farm High School as well as some local competitors from Southwestern andGranite City High Schools.
After the Redbirds’ first win against the Gillespie Miners on Friday, Alton head coach Stacey Ferguson thought that the team needed to step it up before their game against Triad (who the Redbirds ultimately defeated).
“In order to get the next one, we’re going to have to adjust some things and increase o
ur energy level a little bit,” she said. “I think how we perform tonight can really set the tone for tomorrow.”
With four set wins and one loss headed into Saturday's matches against Granite City, Southwestern and Orchard Farm, it seems that the Redbirds have set a pretty good standard of play for the tournament.
The Granite City Warriors maintain the same record in the tournament as Alton heading into day two after wins against Southwestern and Orchard Farm already under their belt. Head coach Ginger Harrison was not only ecstatic to win her first match in the tournament, but her team’s first win of the season against the Lady Piasa Birds.
“It feels great,” she said. “These girls have worked really hard. We just played our first game yesterday [2-0 loss against Highland] so this was our second game. We’re actually going to play 15 games in 17 days. We’ve worked really hard up to this point and we’re ready to play.”
To kick off Saturday’s day of play, Granite City will face off against Alton at 9:00 a.m. Following that match, Triad will battle Southwestern while Orchard Farm and Gillespie dual. At 11:00 a.m., Alton and Southwestern as well as Triad and Granite City compete simultaneously. Noon’s matches include Orchard Farm versus Triad and Gillespie versus Granite City. To close out the tournament at 1:00 p.m., Alton and Orchard Farm will face off while Southwestern and Gillespie battle.
First through sixth place will be determined by the team’s overall record in the tournament. If there is a two-way tie, a head-to-head match will take place. In the case of a three-way tie, the team’s point differences will be tied to determine the highest place.
FRIDAY’S SCORES:
Alton vs. Gillespie (25-17, 25-20) 2-0
Southwestern vs. Granite City (16-25, 23-25) 2-0
Granite City vs. Orchard Farm (25-17, 23-25, 15-4) 2-1
Triad vs. Alton (25-22, 14-25, 14-16) 2-1
Coming soon: scores from…
Gillespie vs. Triad
Orchard Farm vs. Southwestern
Girls Volleyball Redbirds reload from 20 win season - The Telegraph - 8/31/2016
Updated on 06/10/2022
PREP VOLLEYBALL: Redbirds reload for 20-win season
Alton’s Savannah Fisher (left), shown hitting past the block against Edwardsville last season, returns for her senior season to lead a Redbirds team taking aim at a third straight 20-win season.
James B. Ritter / For The Telegraph
GODFREY – Alton Redbirds volleyball returns six of its top eight players from a 21-win squad in 2015.
So appearing overmatched in a decisive defeat at Columbia before a three-set fight was required to beat Metro East Lutheran went against the script for the 2016 season’s opening week.
“Not what I expected from the experience that we have back on the court,” Alton coach Stacey Ferguson said.
But the Redbirds coach who began her eighth season as head coach at Alton with a 135-101-5 record was not reaching for the panic button.
“It’s a good group of girls and they come to practice every day with a common goal and I can see them all working hard for each other,” Ferguson said after last Wednesday’s 21-25, 25-16, 25-23 victory over MEL. “So I’m hoping the wheel will get rolling a little bit and that will pay off in the future.”
That roll began Tuesday night when the Redbirds swept the Fort Zumwalt South Bulldogs in straight sets at Alton High. It dropped the Dogs to 2-3 and put the Redbirds at 2-1 heading into the Alton Tournament, a six-team round robin Friday and Saturday.
The Redbirds are the two-time defending tourney champions with a 10-game winning streak in an event that brings Gillespie, Triad, Southwestern, Granite City and Orchard Farm to Godfrey.
Alton appears stocked for a third straight 20-win season. The Redbirds finished 21-13-1 last season after setting the program’s victories record with a 25-8-1 in 2014 that gave AHS back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time.
The Redbirds did graduate their all-time kills leader in Jada Green, who finished with 630 kills. But proven terminators return with experienced attackers in senior outside hitter Savannah Fisher and middle blocker Annie Evans.
Fisher put down the match-ending kill to beat MEL, but Ferguson hit the season’s second week still waiting for the athletic outside to unleash more of her power potential.
“I still haven’t seen a swing that I need to see from her,” Ferguson said. “I think she’s holding back a little bit, trying to just play smart instead of smart and hard. But she didn’t stop swinging. We can’t stop swinging because we’re not going to get better if we don’t do it.”
Junior Gwen Hunter joins Fisher at outside hitter, with junior Saddi Brands stepping up to join Fisher and Evans as a kills leader in the middle. Junior Emily Stahl is the right side, with junior setter Sydney Schmidt returning as setter in the Redbirds’ 5-1 offense.
Schmidt is the Redbirds’ most dangerous server with six aces from the first two matches. Junior Katie Mans, a two-time state medalist as a high jumper in track, gives Alton depth at the net.
Becoming more efficient in their attack remains a target for the Redbirds, but Ferguson does not want mistakes to diminish the aggressiveness of her hitters.
“They kept with it, they kept persevering through the errors and whatnot,” Ferguson said. “We just have to work to get better on the unforced errors, the serving errors, the miscommunication on defense. We have to be better at that so everything else falls into place.”
The back line is anchored by returning libero Kassidy Funke. The junior gets defensive support from sophomore Calista Cox, while Fisher also is a key in back as a six-rotation player.
With none of the Redbirds’ primary attackers taller than 5-foot-10, passing out of serve receive is crucial for an offense without the luxury of size that Southwestern Conference powers Edwardsville and O’Fallon send out.
“If we don’t get the pass up where we need to, our girls — we are good hitters — but we also lack the height to make the adjustment when things are off a little bit,” Ferguson said. “We definitely have to work extra hard in the backcourt to make our front row’s job easier.”
Greg Shashack may be reached at 618-798-1486 or on Twitter @gregshashack
GODFREY — The Alton Redbirds volleyball team overcame a one-game deficit to defeat the Metro-East Lutheran Knights on Wednesday night in a non-conference contest at Alton High.
The Redbirds improved to 1-1 on the season with the 21-25, 25-16, 25-23 win. It was the season opener for MELHS.
The Knights established a three-point lead in the first game, but a kill from Alton’s Savannah Fisher made the score 3-1. The score remained close, within three points and was later tied at 10 points.
Metro went on a four-point run with Daniele Timmermann serving to make the score 14-10. Another Lutheran run, six points with Lydia Flaherty serving, made the score 23-13. However, the Redbirds surged, as a three-point run made the score 23-18 Knights. But MELHS held on and won the first game 25-21.
“We started off with a little too much in our heads in the first set,” Alton coach Stacey Ferguson said. “We had a tough opening night on Monday against Columbia. When you go out and play a tough team like Columbia and then come out here against Metro East which is always a good, solid program, we always go two tight games, or three game matches. So, I think we were in our heads, thinking what to do too much instead of playing our game.”
Alton’s late momentum in the first game transferred to the second game. The game was close early and tied at six points, but Sydney Schmidt’s five-point serving run made the score 15-8 Alton. Schmidt’s ace gave the Redbirds their 14th point. Alton maintained their momentum and won the second game 26-16.
“We loosened up and started doing some things, we realized we’re capable of doing more than we were doing,” Ferguson said. “You could see it unfold a lot better. You could see the confidence and the girls swinging a lot more.”
Ferguson saw room for improvement in team communication.
“We have to work better on unforced errors, the serving errors and the miscommunication on defense,” she said. “We have to be better at this so everything else falls into place.”
Lutheran coach Jon Giordano also talked about unforced errors.
“I thought we had two stretches in the second and third game,” he said. “Passing that wasn’t where it was and hitting that wasn’t where it was, we just didn’t elevate. And Alton stepped up, they just didn’t miss serves. Whereas they missed a bunch of serves in the first game and made it easier for us. We missed those serves in the second and third games, it put us back on our heals at times.”
Middle hitter Ellen Schulte is currently out of the lineup for the Knights due to a knee injury. Giordano said she’ll likely return in the first week of September.
“We have a lot of experience coming back and we need to rely on that in the coming weeks,” Giordano said of Schulte’s absence. “We hope everyone will step up even more.”
The Redbirds built a 7-3 lead in the third game. Courtney Fenelon’s kill made the score 7-4 in favor of Alton. The score was tied up at 16 and 17 points. However, Alton maintained the lead in the latter part of the game and won 25-23.
Fenelon led the Knights in kills with 10, while Timmermann chipped in with 6. Flaherty dished out 23 assists and had a team-high five aces.
The Redbirds were paced by Fisher and Saddi Brands, who each produced 8 kills. Annie Evans added seven for good measure. Sydney Schmidt divvied out 23 assists and a team-best five aces from the service line.
Alton returns to action at 6 p.m. on Aug. 30 against Fort Zumwalt South in a contest at AHS. The Knights next play at crosstown rival Father McGivney at 6 p.m. on Aug. 30 on its new Glen Carbon campus.
- See more at: http://advantagenews.com/sports/girls-volleyball-alton-tops-melhs-in-three-games/#sthash.nglvDXtv.dpuf
