Alton downs Metro East Lutheran

Matthew Kamp For The Telegraph

 Published 5:35 am CDT, Thursday, August 23, 2018

Photo:

Matthew Kamp | For The Telegraph

Metro-East Lutheran’s Taylor Bradley goes up for the ball Wednesday night against Alton as the Redbirds’ Brooke Wolff (25) defends.

GODFREY —Alton staved off potential game points in the second to sweep Metro-East Lutheran 25-19, 27-25 girls volleyball victory Wednesday iat AHS.

The Redbirds trailed 24-21 in the second game, before scoring six of the next seven points, including the final two on a kill by Leilani Hill and a net violation, to secure the win.

“We got a little too comfortable and didn’t execute the way we needed to. They picked it up on the other side,” AHS coach Stacey Ferguson said.

Alton is now 1-1. MELHS falls to 0-1.

“I was pleased with our effort, especially for a first match and working out the kinks,” MELHS coach Jon Giordano said.

A sweep looked likely with Alton opening up a 17-12 lead in the second game.

Metro, though, rallied to take a 22-19 lead on a kill by Anne Kienle. It was her second kill during a 10-2 spurt for the Knights.

“The girls tend to have a short memory, which is nice. They do a good job of being resilient and making plays,” Giordano said.

Ahead 24-21 and needing one point to force a third game, the Knights couldn’t close out the Redbirds.

A kill by Hill, along with stellar defense by Shiann Johnson, helped the Redbirds tie it 24-all.

“We need to play at that level of urgency at the beginning,” Ferguson said.

Tied at 25-25, Alton closed it out with the final two points, including the last on a net violation against the Knights despite a hitting error against the Redbirds.

“We had our shots at the end, but we just couldn’t finish,” Giordano said.

In the first game, the teams played tight for the first 16 points before Alton opened up a 12-7 lead with Olivia Ducey picking up two aces in a four-point span.

The Redbirds led by as many as six twice, 21-15 at the latest, and the Knights couldn’t recover.

Two straight hitting errors handed Alton the 25-19 win.

Alton’s Ducey finished with four kills, while Johnson and Brooke Wolff each had three blocks.

Kate Weber led Metro with five kills.

Alaina Bozarth added four kills, while Sidney Vetter had two kills and 16 assists and Chloe Langendorf finished with 12 digs.

“We felt like we had a good pass or good set, but not at the same time,” Giordano said. “We’ll work on that.”