Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009

Panthers get past Tigers at Class 4A volleyball semifinals

O'Fallon will play for sectional title

BELLEVILLE -- The O'Fallon Panthers continued to raise the bar to another level Tuesday in the semifinals of the Class 4A Normal West Volleyball Sectional.

Senior Emma Goldschmidt pounded down 11 kills and freshman Katie Roustio chipped in with seven kills as the Panthers rolled into the sectional title match with a a 25-20, 25-13 win over Southwestern Conference rival Edwardsville in a game played at Belleville East.

Just three days removed from claiming its first regional title since 1992, the Panthers suffered no letdown as they grabbed the momentum midway in the first game and never looked back in a near-flawless effort against Edwardsville.

A five-point service run by Tori Lee in the first game gave O'Fallon some breathing room. After Meredith Mueller had a service string of nine in a row in the second game, O'Fallon was well on its way to the sectional title match.

"I guess we could play better but I haven't seen it this year. That was amazing,'' O'Fallon coach Erin Legendre said. "We really put it together there and wow, I'm just very proud of my kids.

"We started a little slow with five unforced errors, but once we got into the match and our passing and hitting started coming around we were able to get the momentum and carry it on to the second game.''

The win sends O'Fallon (28-8-1) into the title match on Thursday against Quincy at Normal West High School. The Blue Devils advanced with a 25-23, 25-23 win over Normal on Tuesday.

Edwardsville (23-15) played well early. With sophomore Taylor Marshall serving, O'Fallon made a pair of hitting errors as the Tigers took an 11-10 lead.

But after a sideout, the Panthers scored four points in a row with Goldschmidt serving to take a 15-11 lead. Minutes later, Lee had her five-point service run as the Panthers lead grew to 22-25.

Goldschmidt then ended the first game with her sixth kill of the night.

Edwardsville coach Jami Parker said once the Panthers got the momentum, there was no stopping them.

"They got the momentum, and we just weren't able to refocus on what we needed to do,'' Parker said. "They just really played very well, and we didn't. When you put those together it just led to a poor night for us.''

A pair of kills by Edwardsville junior Maddi Croft to start game two tied the score at 4, before the Panthers put the match away.

Three service winners by Mueller, two kills and a tip by Roustio and two kills by Goldschmidt turned a tie score into a 14-4 lead.

Seconds late, Goldschmidt added a pair of service winners as the Panthers lead continued to grow at 17-5.

"They (Roustio and Goldschmidt) are quite a one-two punch,'' Legendre said. "We knew that Edwardsville would concentrate on slowing them down and that we would need some other players to step up, I thought our hitters on the other side really stepped up.''