Girls volleyball hosted their first tournament of the season this past weekend, placing first in the bronze bracket.
The team came into the tournament confident, having just beaten Edwardsville’s long-time rival, O’Fallon, 2-0. They followed that game with another win against Collinsville.
The players carried that confidence to the court, opening the tournament on Friday night with another 2-0 win against Decatur Eisenhower. But the victory streak was soon ended by a 2-0 loss to Mahomet Seymour later that night.
“[The loss] motivated us to do better,” senior Sydney Davis said. “I think it just shows what our team is like and what we need to improve on.”
When the second day of the tournament arrived, Edwardsville came ready.
“We were very excited to play,” senior Kelsey Renth said. “We knew Breese Central was a tough team, but we knew that we came into it very confident, very strong because we wanted it.”
Saturday’s 9 a.m. game started off strong for the Tigers. They won the first set and started off ahead in the second. But as the match progressed, Breese began to take back the score and won the second set.
The third set was neck-and-neck, ending with a score of 13-15 and another loss for the Tigers.
“Obviously we didn’t get the outcome that we wanted,” Renth said. “But it just showed how much we had to push; that game was good for us to learn that we have to work harder if we want to win.”
The team’s losses put them in the bronze bracket, but they weren’t finished yet.
Saturday, the Tigers took two more wins against Staunton and Rock Island, earning first place in the bracket and ninth overall.
Following the tournament, students in the stands noticed a difference from last year’s team.
“I’ve been to all of [the games],” junior Sean Henson said. “They’re doing a lot better. I feel like more of the [varsity] players have more experience…after having a whole season to play. Along with that, there’s new team members, some of the JV people got brought up and everybody has more experience overall.”
Renth agreed, saying the team feels more like a family this year: a possible source to their success.
