EAST ALTON-WOOD RIVER-- The Civic Memorial High School volleyball team soared over East Alton Wood River High School during their five-set matches on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 6:00 p.m.
In their junior varsity matches, the Oilers started strong and gained an early lead of 8-2. However, the early lead was nothing for the Eagles. After a fairly close set, the Eagles defeated the Oilers in their first set 23-25.
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The score was constantly neck and neck during the second set. After the two teams were tied at 12-12, the Eagles became more aggressive; they used every opportunity to spike the ball over the net and worked together to make sure any points could be scored by the opposition. The girls who proudly wore their purple could not keep the majestic in maroon down for long; eventually the Oilers’ score rose to 17. The team’s lead did not last, and the Eagles put an end to the series of junior varsity matches by ending the second and last JV set with a 17-25 score.
The two varsity squads made their way on to the court eager for a fresh start. However, when the points began to rack up for the Eagles, there was no stopping them. It seemed to be too much for the Oilers to catch up with that early in the match. The first set ended with a score of 10-25 in favor of the Eagles.
After regrouping with their coach, Patti Scott, the Oilers went back on to the court with a new mission; tie up the sets in hope of winning the tiebreaker. Before the Eagles could even notice, the Oilers racked up a four-point lead. Sooner than they knew it, the score grew to 21-17. A win was in sight for the Oilers. Before the Eagles could regain too many points, the set ended with the Oilers winning 25-21.
With the sets tied 1-1, the tiebreaker led to the playing of some fairly rough volleyball. The back and forth between the two teams was incredible; points were scored one after the other on each side almost immediately after the other team celebrated their own little victories on the court. This high-intensity pattern ended when both of the teams were tied at 16-16. The Eagles quickly gained an eight-point lead over the Oilers and the scoreboard read 16-24. Hope was not lost for the Oilers quite yet. The Oilers scored two more points until finally, the Eagles landed a spike that ended the game at 18-25.
“We knew Wood River was going to be a really scrappy team,” CMHS Volleyball Coach Amanda Biggs said, “we knew that we really needed to play hard.”
This first match of the season was just what the Eagles needed to get their season going.
“It was a really great way to start our season and it gave us the momentum we need to hopefully do well in our future matches,” Biggs said.
The Eagles volleyball teams will take on Marquette Catholic High School on Wednesday, Sept. 2 in the gymnasium at CMHS. The Oilers will participate in the Roxana Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 29. at 10:30 a.m. facing off against the hosting Shells.
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