Tigers fall in two to Normal Community in sectional
CHATHAM – Edwardsville's girls volleyball team went into Thursday night's IHSA Class 4A Chatham Glenwood Sectional final coming off a huge win two nights earlier over O'Fallon.
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The Tigers ran into a Normal Community team that had plenty of weapons, and the Iron used them to full advantage in a 25-15, 25-16 win to advance to their own Supersectional match against Minooka, 25-15, 25-20 winners over Plainfield Central in the Romeoville Sectional final Thursday; that match will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday, with the winner moving into next weekend's Class 4A state tournament at Illinois State's Redbird Arena in Normal.
The Iron moved to 32-6 on the season in winning their fourth straight sectional championship; the Tigers were eliminated at 31-7.
“They have a phenomenal defense; it's fast, it's quick, they keep a lot of balls in play and they did that tonight,” said Tiger coach Jami Parker. “Normal's a great team.
“We weren't completely off, but we weren't completely on here tonight either. We did struggle just a little bit; it definitely affected the game.”
“I thought we played good defense; we were aggressive and if we're making aggressive mistakes, I don't think those are bad errors,” said Iron coach Christine Konopasek. “I don't think that at any point in time, the girls felt rattled; the first few points, the back-and-forth was similar to how we played Pekin (in Normal's sectional semifinal win Tuesday night), but then they settled in and did the things they were supposed to do.”
Normal's height advantage played a role, Parker felt. “They're definitely larger than we are, size-wise,” Parker said. “Everybody this year has been larger than we are size-wise; they definitely affect one's swing just a little bit. The girls have to hit shots and be a little smarter with the ball.
“They were swinging over us a little bit on the blocking too, but that was just one of those things. They outplayed us tonight, front row and back.” 
Game 1 started out evenly, the teams splitting the first eight points before Edwardsville took a small lead at 7-4 that the Iron was able to bounce back from to tie the game at 7-7; EHS eventually took a 9-8 lead, but that would turn out to be the last lead the Tigers would have all evening as Normal surged to a 13-9 lead and extended it to 18-12. Edwardsville could never get closer than five points the rest of the way, a final five-point run giving Normal the first game.
The Iron ran out to a 7-2 lead to open Game 2, the Tigers getting to 7-4 and 9-7 before Normal got on a run that saw them open up a 17-10 lead that eventually became 22-13; the Tigers eventually pulled to 24-16 before Normal closed out the match.
Rachel Pranger had seven kills, with Kate Martin having six and Maria Smith five; Pranger had two blocks, Corrine Timmerman and Rachel Verdun one block each. Verdun had 13 assists for the match and Megan Woll had nine digs, Martin eight and Pranger 7. Rachel Maguire had eight kills for Normal, McKenna Barnhart 12 digs and Jamie Vasilou nine assists; Grace Cleveland had three blocks and four kills on the evening for the Iron.
The Tigers will be losing Nicki Meyer and Shelbey Saye to graduation for the 2017 season. “Playoffs are about the team, first and foremost,” Parker said. “Second, it's about the seniors; it's their last swing. Nicki and Shelbey have done a tremendous job this year. I think they had a great senior year and they accomplished almost all the goals that they wanted.
“Granted, we're returning a lot of players, but tonight's about the seniors.”
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