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.
