EDWARDSVILLE — Ciara Cunningham got emotional during the senior night festivities Tuesday.
“To perform like we did for the seniors that have put their all for us for four-plus years, like it means a lot,” said Cunningham, a 5-foot-10 junior outside hitter for the Edwardsville High girls volleyball team.
Cunningham definitely gave Edwardsville’s seven seniors a performance to remember on their special night.
She blasted nine kills and served two aces in an impressive 25-18, 25-23 sweep of Mater Dei, the No. 1 small school in the rankings, at Liberty Middle School.
“We continuously talk about the potential that this team has and the work that they put in, day in and day out, and trusting their teammates and trusting the training,” Edwardsville coach Heather Ohlau said. “And this is just a testament to the hard work that every girl has put in every single day leading up into this match.”
Madelyn Ohlau added five kills and four aces, while Savannah Ford and Lucy Malawy combined for 27 assists for Edwardsville (21-13), the No. 8 large school in the rankings.
“Just not dwelling on our mistakes,” Madelyn Ohlau said. “Like whenever we made a mistake, we got right back and would side out the next ball and we took that energy and just kept it through the whole set, even whenever we were down.”
The second set went back and forth and featured four lead changes and 11 ties.
A Cunningham kill gave Edwardsville a 23-22 lead, but Alyssa Koerkenmeier evened it back up for the Knights with a kill before two Mater Dei hitting errors ended the 44-minute match.
“Ciara stepped up big,” Heather Ohlau said. “Prior to this year, she's always been a middle for us, and then had to learn a new role. We needed her on the outside, and she's definitely stepped up big, took the training, and she's harnessing it as her own.”
Ella Diercks had seven kills and Avery Patton added six more for Mater Dei (26-2). Addison Nenninger had 21 assists.
The loss snapped the Knights’ 13-match winning streak.
“We struggled with (serve receive),” Mater Dei coach Cortney Walker said. “You know, we struggled with it midseason also, but I think now the last few games, we thought we were coming back around. So, we're going to try to tackle that again (Wednesday) and, you know, make sure we're getting those balls up to our setters so we can do what we want with them.”
Edwardsville has won seven of its last nine with the postseason starting next week.
“We were able to go up north to Chicago, and we competed against some teams, but coming off of that tournament, we still had some unfinished business,” Heather Ohlau said. “And so, coming into this game focused and ready to go, it definitely does build that confidence, knowing that Mater Dei is a phenomenal team.”
Coming up aces
Edwardsville used an aggressive serve to take control of the first set. Madelyn Ohlau had three of the Tigers’ six aces in the frame.
“Since it was a really close game, those really gave us that energy boost and we held that energy through the whole set, and just used that to our advantage,” Madelyn Ohlau said.
Cunningham blasted five kills, Livia Goebel had a pair of blocks and Lucy Goebel’s second kill clinched the opener for Edwardsville.
“I think it proves to us that we can compete with bigger teams, and we are a team to be reckoned with,” Cunningham said.
Venue change
All of Edwardsville’s home matches this season have been held at Liberty Middle School due flooring issues in Lucco Gymnasium. The hope is to have the floor ready to go by basketball season.
Up next
Mater Dei: Hosts Fairfield at 6 p.m. Thursday. It will be the first meeting between the two schools since November 8, 2019.
Edwardsville: Travels to Belleville West at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The Tigers swept the Maroons on September 26.
STLhighschoolSPORTS.com rankings - 10/16/2024 Large SchoolsLast Week1. Lafayette (23-4)12. Francis Howell (21-7)33. St. Dominic (23-6)24. Cor …
Edwardsville Tigers junior Ciara Cunningham (13) tries to tip the ball past the blocker of Mater Dei Knights junior Addie Nenninger (8) during a regular season match on Tuesday October 22, 2024 at Liberty Middle School in Edwardsville, IL. Rick Ulreich, Special to