Redbirds fend off Flyerettes in three sets

Greg Shashack, gshashack@thetelegraph.com

 Updated 10:07 pm CDT, Thursday, September 13, 2018

Photo:

Greg Shashack / The Telegraph

IMAGE 1 OF 4

Alton’s Abbigail Powers celebrates a point with teammates Leilani Hill (back) and Grace Kane (9) during the second set of the Redbirds’ three set SWC victory over East St. Louis on Thursday at Alton High in

... more

GODFREY – After a split of their first eight matches in 2018, Alton volleyball coach Stacey Ferguson was seeking an upgrade more mental than physical from her team.

The Redbirds delivered in Thursday’s Southwestern Conference opener with a 25-23, 19-25, 25-21 victory over the East St. Louis Flyerettes at Alton High.

“One of the things we struggle with sometimes is that mental toughness, whenever adversity face us,” Ferguson said. “I think we showed a little bit more of that toughness tonight than we have in previous matches this season.”

The victory was the third in a row for the 5-4 Redbirds, who are pooled with Staunton, Altamont and Waterloo on Saturday morning at the Belleville East Tournament.

The Redbirds faced a 22-17 deficit in the first set against East Side before rallying to win the set. The Flyerettes would bounce back to win the second game before Alton regrouped to beat East Side for the fourth time in their last five meetings.

“East St. Louis is never an easy team,” Ferguson said. “They’re very athletic, they play hard to the end. It was a great match and great to see us come out on top, of course. … The girls have to understand we have to be confident and we have to maintain control.

“We lose that confidence when things aren’t going well or we make some errors. I told them before the game, all the years I’ve coached I’ve never coached an error-free match. They have to realize they are going to make mistakes and we have to do something positive to follow.”

The Redbirds graduated their three top producers from a 15-18-2 team in 2017 in Emily Stahl, Gwen Hunter and Sydney Schmidt. But the newest edition of Alton volleyball is encouraging to the coach.

“I like the chemistry and energy that they can bring together,” Ferguson said. “I like that we have some younger girls, the offense is run by two sophomores.”

Shiann Johnson and Olivia Ducey, who had limited duty in the role as a freshman, trigger the attack as setters in a 5-2 offense. “Those two, they are running the court,” Ferguson said. “For sophomores, the decisions they make, it’s been fun.”

The Redbirds are using a nine-player rotation with a starting six including the two soph setters, outside hitters in senior Leilani Hill and junior Cully Higgins, middle blockers in senior Abbigail Powers and sophomore Brooke Wolff, with senior Grace Kane back at libero. Senior defensive specialist Rachel Holmes, junior DS Samantha Dosso and junior attacker Janelle Rose complete the rotation, with sophomoreLynna Fischer also competing for court time.

Ferguson is in her 10th season as Alton head coach for a program that has never won a regional championship, has not won a single postseason match in the last 18 years and has not posted a winning record in SWC play since at least the 1990s.

But Ferguson, who has guided the Redbirds to three 20-win seasons including a school-record 25 in 2014, likes the energy she sees in 2018 and the mix of youth supporting seniors Hill, Holmes, Kane and Powers.

“I expect to see continual growth,” Ferguson said. “My seniors have great leadership, great positive attitudes. If they keep it up there, the younger girls are going to follow suit.”

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.”