EDWARDSVILLE — The Metro East Lutheran Knights charged out of the gates hard, but it was the Alton Redbirds that enjoyed the closing burst on Wednesday at Thomas Hooks Gym.
The Birds climbed to .500 at 1-1 by beating the Knights in their season opener at home, 15-25, 25-16, 25-23.
Alton started the night with back-to-back aces from senior Emily Stahl, but then watched as MELHS went on a 10-1 run to surge in front 10-4. Junior Ellen Schulte provided a kill along the way and junior Sidney Vetter supplied an ace.
The Knights continued to roll, extending their lead to 22-11 at one point before AHS cut it to 24-15. An Alton service error handed the first game to Metro.
The Redbirds started to find their footing in the second game, racing out to an 11-2 advantage. MELHS closed it to 14-10 for a moment, but couldn’t get any closer. Senior Gwen Hunter provided three kills in the game, while Stahl hammered home a pair of kills and supplied an ace on the way to forcing a third and deciding game. This time it was the Knights providing a service error on game point.
The third game was more of a back and forth affair, as it was tied 12 times. The last tie came at 23-23. MELHS was up 23-22, but had a service error to turn the ball over to the Redbirds who scored the last three points to close out the game and the match.
Hunter had a couple of aces for Alton in the final game, while Metro served a trio of aces in the set. Senior Emily Schwarz had two of them. Schulte had six kills in the final game for the Knights.
Hunter, Abbigail Powers and Lynna Fischer each provided three kills to fuel the AHS offense. Stahl dished out nine assists, while Stahl and Hunter each had three aces, Rachel Holmes had a team-high 14 digs and Stahl and Powers both had two blocks.
For Metro, Schulte led the way with 10 kills, while Taylor Bradley had seven and Alaina Bozarth had five. Bradley also had three blocks and Vetter paced the offense with 20 assists.
Next up for MELHS is Springfield Lutheran at 6 p.m. Friday in the Springfield Lutheran Tournament. The Redbirds have a date at Fort Zumwalt South at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
