GODFREY • The Alton and Columbia High girls volleyball teams were coming off banner seasons in 2014.
The two combined for 58 victories, with Alton setting a school record with 25 wins. Columbia won 33 matches and advanced to the Class 3A sectional final.
But only one could open the season on a high note.
Columbia used a strong serve and serve-receive game to down Alton 25-15, 29-27 in a season-opening showdown at Alton High.
The Eagles recorded six aces in the first set and four more in the second. They did not commit a service error.
Junior Colene Hamilton led the way for Columbia with 11 kills and three aces. She kept the Redbirds off balance with tip kills along with those she hammered home.
"I thought we did OK for our first game of the season," Hamilton said. "Our offense is going to be pretty good and we're going to be a good team all-around. But we need to work on our blocking. It was rough in the second set."
Columbia held a slim 7-6 lead when Hamilton reeled off eight successive points for a 15-6 advantage. Juniors Jordan Hausmann and Ashley Warren had two kills apiece in the sequence.
Hausmann added five kills for the game. Warren and senior Claire Foster finished with three each.
"Colene had a great game," Columbia coach Kelly Landgraf said. "She kept her head when she needed to and was able to pull us through."
In the second set, Alton sophomore setter Sydney Schmidt entered the lineup for the first time and made a big difference in the Redbirds' passing, spacing and defense.
Alton led as late as 27-26, but couldn't stop the Eagles at the most crucial times. The game was tied 15 times after Alton had taken a 13-11 lead.
"We have a lot of players that haven't been in a situation like that before," Landgraf said. "When I look at the mistakes we made, they were a lot of mental errors."
Alton's Jada Green and Savannah Fisher picked up their play in the second set. Both finished the night with five kills apiece. Senior Alexis Shaw added three kills, all of them in the final part of the second game.
"Coming into this we knew we had a really tough home opener," Alton coach Stacey Ferguson said. "In the first set, we were a little slow to make some adjustments. The second game, we were able to get back to what will likely be our consistent lineup."
