Lots of rivalries highlighted in area volleyball regional finals
The highly anticipated all-Southwestern Conference championship at the Class 4A Granite City Volleyball Regional came to fruition Tuesday as conference rivals O’Fallon and Edwardsville each posted semifinal victories.
Edwardsville knocked off Quincy 25-13, 25-21, while O’Fallon (30-5) overwhelmed Chatham Glenwood 25-15, 25-8.
O’Fallon got 10 kills from Mackenzie Koester and five each from Imani Williamson and Cassie Reno. Ali Fournie contributed 22 assists.
Edwardsville defeated O’Fallon 25-20, 25-22 in a conference match on Oct. 6. The regional championship wil be played at 6 p.m. Thursday at Granite City High School.
Class 3A
Top-seeded Columbia (31-4) rolled to a 25-11, 25-9 semifinal victory over Salem to reach the championship game of the Centralia Regional. The Eagles will play Cahokia Conference rival Freeburg (20-10), which cruised past the host Centralia Orphan Annies, 25-10, 25-21, in another semifinals match on Tuesday.
Columbia has defeated Freeburg four times this season and the teams meet for a fifth time at 6 p.m. Thursday for the regional championship.
Class 2A
Gibault defeated Red Bud 25-11, 25-21 to advance to the championship of the Red Bud Regional. The Hawks will face Trico, which defeated Pinckneyville in the other semifinal match. Gibault and Trico square off at 6 p.m. Thursday for the regional title.
Class 1A
Conference rivalries being played out in the regional championship is the theme at the Marissa Regional as well. Semifinal wins by Cahokia Conference-Kaskaskia Division rivals New Athens and Valmeyer sets up what amounts to a family feud at 6 p.m. Thursday in the regional championship.
Valmeyer (22-11) needed three sets to get past conference rival Steeleville on Tuesday, delivering a 19-25, 25-15, 25-22 victory. New Athens (27-7) blasted Marissa 25-7, 25-8. New Athens and Valmeyer split two conference matches this season, with Valmeyer winning the most recent battle.
This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Lots of rivalries highlighted in area volleyball regional finals."