Experience pays off for Edwardsville's volleyball team against Alton

GODFREY – Edwardsville's boys volleyball team traveled to Alton for a Thursday evening Southwestern Conference match; the difference in levels of experience between the two sides was evident throughout the match.

Redbird coach Daniel Campbell has said that his team is “a work in progress”, and while Alton seemingly has a bright future ahead of it, the Redbirds dropped a 25-9, 25-10 decision to the Tigers to fall to 1-5 overall, 1-4 in the SWC. EHS went to 10-7 overall, 4-1 in the league.

“It takes a lot, especially when you have a team that has a jump setter,” Campbell said, “and that jump setter is very good; he read the court very well. He also is a very good setter; I was very impressed with him.”

While the Tigers have many experienced players on board, the Redbirds, in some cases, are still learning the game. “When it comes to our kids, we're still a work in progress,” Campbell said. “I threw two freshmen out there; our numbers are low, so we're hoping to get some programs or camps to run into the middle school to help with that.

“We just have a lot to work on.”

The Tigers lost a couple of players to injury in their Tuesday win at East St. Louis and in practice the next day, but Ryan Pacatte – who was a standout scout-team player for the EHS basketball team – stepped in to fill the void. “This kid's only been playing volleyball for a month and a half,” said Tiger coach Andy Bersett, “he steps in and he does a good job for us; he's a quick learner, he's a hard worker.

“It's not always easy to show up for practice when you haven't gotten a lot of minutes, like him and Ben (Lombardi), but you know what, the last couple of nights, we've been able to show our depth. We're able to practice at a fairly high level because we have two teams worth of quality players.”

That difference showed itself early; the Tigers got out to an 8-2 lead early and slowly built it up thanks to a series of aces on serve. EHS built the lead behind good work from their offense and eventually took the opener 25-9.

Game 2 got out to an even start, the Tigers and Redbirds splitting the first four points of the game before EHS forged a small lead. AHS pulled to within 5-4 but a run by the Tigers got the lead to 10-5 and they continued to build on it, having leads of 14-6 and 16-8 as the game progressed. The Redbirds came only as close as 19-10 before the Tigers closed out the match on a six-point run.

Edwardsville takes on Belleville West on the road Tuesday evening, while the Redbirds travel to Granite City for a league match Tuesday, then host Chaminade of St. Louis County Thursday in a match moved up from its' originally scheduled date of April 28.