Edwardsville Reels Off First 17 Points Of Second Set, Wins IHSA Class 4A Regional Semifinal Over Granite City

GRANITE CITY - Edwardsville's girls volleyball team reeled off the first 17 points of the second set - 16 served up by Madelyn Ohlau - and cruised to a 25-14, 25-3 win over host Granite City in the semifinals of the IHSA Class 4A Granite girls volleyball regional Tuesday evening, Oct. 28, 2025, at Granite City Memorial Gym.

The Tigers had some trouble with the Warriors in the first set, but after taking the lead in the opening set, went on to the win, and will face Quincy, who surprised Belleville West in the second semifinal, in the regional final Thursday night.

"We came into the second set a little bit more focused on running our speed, our game, our power, and it showed," said Edwardsville head coach Heather Ohlau. We made them have to earn the points that they got. We were a little bit slow in that first set; we were not really getting to the speed and the power that we are able to, and we made that adjustment in the second set."

The start of the second set was definitely some of the best volleyball the Tigers have played all season, getting the points, as Ohlau went on a long service run.

"We didn't win on a good service run at the beginning," Ohlau said, "and that's what it's been about. Serving has been a strength, and our attacking has been a strength. When we can put those two pieces together, it's hard for some teams to side out. So, that's something we're going to continue to build on as we continue through the postseason."

The Blue Devils will provide a challenge to the Tigers on Thursday, as evidenced by their close three-set win over the Maroons in the second semifinal.

"No match in postseason is easy," Ohlau said, "because with your season on the line, emotions run high, and we've got to take each ball, each point, each set one at a time. And that's what we're going to focus on. Any win in the postseason is a good one."

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The opening set saw both sides splitting the first 12 points, with the set tied 6-6 before the Tigers, behind a kill by Ari Fusaro, the service of Amelia Zhang, and the all-around play of Livia Goebel, scored seven points in a row to take a 13-6 lead, forcing a Warrior time out.

When play resumed, Savannah Ford's service helped Edwardsville to extend its lead to 17-8, then to 21-11. The Warriors did come back to make it 24-14, but the Tigers closed out the set on a kill to win 25-14 and go up one set in the match.

The second set was all Edwardsville, as the Tigers scored the first point on the Warriors' serve, then Ohlau went on her run, where she served up 16 straight points, aided by Goebel and Bella Bollman, to go up 17-0 before Granite got their first point on a combination block to make the score 17-1. The Warriors were able to make it 23-3 on a kill by Lexi Ruiz, and a block by Ruiz and Katie Gartner, but the Tigers served out the set and match, winning 25-3 and the match two sets to none.

Ciara Cunningham had seven kills for the Tigers, while both Fusaro and Goebel had five kills each, Ohlau served up a total of 19 points and four aces, while Eve Eberlin had six points and two aces, Ohlau also had five digs, with both Ford and Lucy Malawy having four digs each, Ford also had 14 assists, while Malawy had five assists.

The Tigers go to 24-11, and will face Quincy, who won a three-set thriller over West 24-26, 27-25, 25-22, in the final on Thursday evening at 6 p.m.

The winner goes on to face the winner of the Belleville East regional, either the host Lancers or O'Fallon, in the O'Fallon sectional semifinal next Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m., the winner going on to the Round of 16 sectional final match against the winner of either Normal Community or Minooka, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m.

The sectional winner goes to the Bradley-Bourbonnais super-sectional state quarterfinal match on Nov. 10 at a time to be announced, the super-sectional winner going on to the state finals at Illinois State University's CEFCU Arena Nov. 14-15.Dalton Brown also contributed to this story.

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