Belleville East Lancers Upset Edwardsville Girls Volleyball Squad To Share Southwestern Conference Lead

In a thrilling SWC match, Belleville East secured a 25-20, 17-25, 25-21 upset.

Colin Feeney, Contributing Sports Writer

Oct 15, 2025 5:31 PM Oct 15, 2025 8:48 PM

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EDWARDSVILLE - The Belleville East girls volleyball team defeated Edwardsville for the first time in 19 years by taking a 25-20, 17-25, 25-21 win over the Tigers in a Southwestern Conference match Tuesday evening, Oct. 14, 2025, at Lucco-Jackson Gym.

It's the first time the Lancers have defeated Edwardsville since Oct. 5, 2006, in a 25-15, 26-24 win at the East gym. It's also the first time East had won at Edwardsville since Oct. 7, 2004, in a three-set win, 25-16, 23-25, 25-23.

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The win puts the Lancers at 22-5, while the Tigers slip to 18-8 overall. Moreover, both teams are now tied for the lead in the Southwestern Conference race at 8-2, with two matches each remaining.

Bella Bollman served up eight points and two aces for the Tigers, while Madelyn Ohlau served up five points and an assist, four different players - Ava Cox, Savannah Ford, Livia Goebel, and Lucy Malawy - all had three points each, with Malawy having two aces, and Ford coming up with a single ace. Goebel also had 12 kills and four blocks, Ohlau, came up with eight kills and an assist, Ciara Cunningham had four kills and three blocks, Collins Cleland had four kills and two blocks, Malawy had 15 assists, and Ford had 12 assists.

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The Lancers next play Alton at home on Thursday, then conclude the regular season at O'Fallon next Tuesday, with both matches starting a 5:45 p.m. The Tigers play at a tournament in Chicagoland this weekend, then play at Breese Mater Dei Catholic next Monday at 7 p.m., host East St. Louis next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in their home finale, then close the regular season on the road, playing at Belleville West Oct. 23 at 5:45 p.m.

The two sides then begin their IHSA Class 4A playoff journey on Oct. 28, as the Tigers play host Granite City in a regional semifinal at 6 p.m., with the winner going on to the final Oct 30 against either Quincy or Belleville West in a 6 p.m. start. The Lancers will host their own regional, and meet Alton Oct. 28 in a semifinal match at 6 p.m, with the winner playing the winner of O'Fallon and Collinsville Oct. 30, also at 6 p.m.

The Granite and East winners will square off in a semifinal of the O'Fallon Sectional at the OTHS Panther Dome Nov. 4 at 5 p.m., with the winner meeting the survivor of the match between the winners of the Normal Community and Minooka winners Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. The O'Fallon sectional winner meets the Richton Park Rich Township sectional winner in the Bradley-Bourbonnais super-sectional Nov. 10, wth the start time to be announced, the super-sectional winner advancing to the state finals at Illinois State University's CEFCU Arena Nov. 14-15. The Bradley-Bourbonnais winner plays the winner of the DeKalb super-sectional in the second semifinal, set for 8:30 p.m., with the third place match set for 7 p.m. the next day, and the state final starting at 8:30 p.m.